Ozilmania: Is it overrated?

Mesut Ozil

Arsene Wenger’s orchestral setup seems to be finally clicking. With Arsenal sitting comfortably atop the Premier League table and currently leading their Champions League group christened by many as the “Group of Death”, their season couldn’t have gone on to a better start. Their string of matches going unbeaten whilst playing away has boosted the confidence and belief in the squad so much so that their next away game against champions Manchester United sees Arsenal going in as favourites.Arsenal’s terrific start to the season has been credited to their marquee signing Mesut Ozil to a large extent, the former Real Madrid star finding his foot hole relatively easily playing “The Arsenal Way”. I for one would credit a large portion of Arsenal’s good run of form to one individual that has proven to be another new signing and much to Arsene Wenger’s liking, this one’s for free.

Aaron Ramsey’s goal scoring touch this season needs no further introduction. It’s his contribution in other areas of the spectrum which is baffling to say the least.

• Defensively Ramsey has averaged a staggering 4.7 tackles per game in 10 premier League appearances.Mathieu Flamini who also shares a good run of form and was bought to provide Wenger with an option of a “hard-man” in midfield averages 1.4 tackles per game, while Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny average 1.1 and 1.8 respectively.
• While Flamini averages a healthy 0.4 shots blocked per game, Ramsey averages 0.3.Considering their job descriptions, its quite impressive to note that a midfield man who pops up around the box and scores goals has incredible dexterity to warrant a “box-to-box” job description.
• Ramsey averages 2.3 shots per game more than any other Arsenal attacking player, one of the reasons for his noteworthy goal scoring tally.
• Barring Mesut Ozil who averages 1.9 dribbles per game, Ramsey outshines every other Arsenal midfield man with 1.6 per game.
• In terms of passing, Aaron eclipses his Arsenal counterparts notching an average of 73.3 passes per game at an accuracy of 86.6% while Santi Cazorla , Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Ozil manage 47.5/59.8/45.5/71.3 passes per game respectively. Only Arteta pulls off better accuracy levels than the Welshman.

Ramsey has been a revelation this season.

The partnership of Mertesacker-Koscielny, Kieran Gibbs innate ability to dominate one-on-one situations(he averages 3.2 tackles per game only bested by Ramsey himself), Wojciech Scezney’s consistent form, Arsenal’s general midfield dominance and Oliver Giroud’s link-up play(4 assists and an encouraging 1.8 key passes per game only bested by Ozil and Cazorla) have also offered Arsenal FC multi-dimensional progress whether or not that can be attributed to a mental boost inspired by the signing of Mesut Ozil.

Ramsey though, could be the new Parick Viera . He isn’t proving to be just a goal scoring midfielder but finds himself offering a mix of tenacity, work-rate, poaching ability, shooting prowess and creative edginess, a combination quite unique to the English game reminiscent with other legends of the Premier League such as Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard. While Ozil has definitely stamped his authority on the English game whilst proving to be the catalyst to Arsenal’s renaissance , Aaron Ramsey epitomizes the engine behind Arsenal’s game, and engine who scores like a striker and assists like a playmaker.

A purple patch it may just be, or a sign of things to come but Aaron Ramsey (if Wenger is to believed) won’t stop scoring just yet.