Of Wenger, Mourinho, and Özil: a contrast in styles

I’m sure Mata is more than willing to give it a try. Instead of sussing that out privately between them, Mourinho seems to have opted for publicly undermining the player, apparently to send a message to the rest of the squad that he’s in charge, and that reputations, achievements, or careers matter little if at all.

At the other end of the spectrum then is Arsène Wenger, who has built and staked his name on his ability to find, sign, and develop unheralded players into superstars. Again, and again, and again, Wenger has proven himself to be a master of actual management—at least as defined in terms of making players and squads better than they might otherwise have been.

Given the talent that has surrounded Mourinho at almost every club he’s managed, it’s hard to assess just how good each squad might have otherwise been without him—how much of a difference, for example, did he make for a Real Madrid squad that features some of the world’s best, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Casillas, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos?

By contrast, how well would Arsenal have done without Wenger? With the temporary exceptions of Robin van Persie and Cesc Fàbregas, which Gunners could we name as established, world-class players? A select few.

The point here is that, between Mourinho and Wenger, the former gets about as much as you might expect out of a squad, given its talent, and the latter gets a bit more than you might expect—even if that hasn’t been quite enough to fully satisfy the Arsenal faithful.

The tie that binds, then, is one Mesut Özil.

Arsene Wenger may just have unchained Mesut Ozil and this might spur him on to even greater heights (Getty Images)

He was good at Real Madrid, no doubt, but he did so under a manager who seems to insist, nay demand, absolute fealty. As such, all of Özil’s gaudy statistics, whether it’s key passes or assists or chances created, might actually do the man a disservice, as he was playing within a system not necessarily tailored to his abilities. Put another way, Özil had to play Mourinho’s way or get Mourinho-ed.

Freed from that strait-jacket, playing in a system and philosophy and under a management style that fosters and encourages, we might actually see a version of Özil that renders the pre-Arsenal Özil absolutely obsolete. That would be exciting to see on two levels: one, it would catapult us towards the top of the Premier League; and two, it would further validate Wenger’s philosophy of maximizing the potential of each player.

Yes, the name on the front of the shirt matters more than the name on the back, but the two dance a delicate minuet. Under Wenger, we might just see an Özil unchained and free to explore the full range of his skills, and that would be an exciting thing indeed.

By the time these two clubs meet in the League Cup’s fourth round, we may have a clearer sense of what Mata’s role will be. We’ll almost certainly have a stronger sense of Özil’s contributions to the squad as he’ll have four more matches under his belt by the time we face Chelsea.

Despite our rivalry, I respect Mata and would like to see him treated better than this.

Right. I’ll walk the line of rooting for Mata while rooting against Mourinho. It’s a fine line, no doubt.