Özil era starts but it’s Ramsey that steals the show
With the international break finally over, Arsenal travelled to the stadium of light to take on Di Canio’s men. Sunderland lined up in a classic 4-4-2 with Fletcher and Altidore playing up front while Özil got a surprise start for Arsenal on the left wing in place of injured Santi Cazorla. Sagna also started at CB in place of Per while Jenkinson deputized for Sagna at RB.
The Özil Era
Early news of Santi Cazorla’s injury was overshadowed by word that Mesut Özil would as a result earn a starting place on the left wing. Özil took no time to settle in the squad and made an immediate impact by beautifully controlling Gibb’s lob and then squaring the ball for Giroud who placed his shot delightfully in the left corner. While Özil was deployed on the left, he spent most of the game drifting narrow and playing central and finished the game with an average position just behind Giroud. He continued the first half in fine form by creating 3 additional goal scoring chances. If it weren’t for some terrible finishing on the part of Theo, Arsenal could have easily been up 3-4 goals by halftime with Özil racking up more than just one assist.
Having a natural AM in the squad also helped Jack tremendously. Jack was given more freedom to play through the midfield channels. Jack’s game tends to get a little stifled with Santi as Cazorla likes playing tight to him teammates to allow for shorter, quicker interplays (triangles) however Özil is happy to drift to allow for space in midfield that Jack happily took advantage resulting in him finishing the game with 2 key passes (one shy of Özil). Jack is a natural dribbler of the ball and with Özil giving him the space to run at players, Jack was able to have a positive impact on the game and in turn have one of his best games of the season so far.
Ramsey Reborn
Aaron Ramsey has been in fine form this season and continued that run with another gritty performance on the weekend. In the first half, Ramsey by himself had made a staggering 7 successful tackles. Ramsey chose to pivot alongside Flamini and provide him with a natural outlet in front of the defence. This allowed Jack and Özil space in front to tear apart the Sunderland defence. In the second half, with Arsenal on the ropes and chasing a goal, Ramsey started to drift wide to occupy the area Özil was leaving empty and joined in the attack alongside Jack and Özil. While his first goal was a terrific strike, his second goal showed just how brilliant his reading of the game is. He first occupied the space made empty by Jack then right after playing it to Özil he made a run into Özil’s space in time to receive the ball from Giroud. Aaron has always provided a master class in how to occupy space which has been a key reason for Arsene trusting Aaron to play at DM whenever required. Now that he has goals to go along with his game, there should be no stopping his potential.
Minor Notes
Giroud continued his fine goal-scoring form by scoring for the fourth consecutive PL game. What has been most impressive has been how he has integrated his hold up/link play with the rest of the Arsenal system. He won an additional 6 aerial duels (more than any Sunderland player) and the use of his ability to hold up is now becoming part of our tactical approach.
While Theo had a terrible first half, his ability to run through the channels will benefit Özil’s game the most. Özil loves playing alongside pacy, wingers that he can play through balls to, especially on the counter. It wouldn’t surprise me if Arsene seriously looked at bringing on another winger in the January window with a striker.
The biggest miss for Arsenal was Per who’s presence Arsenal sorely lacked in the second half. Arsenal have over the last two season dramatically improved team defence but continue to allow schoolboy errors undo a lot of good work. Per has been instrumental over the last 6 months in stamping down on these mistakes and I can’t help but think Per would have been in a far better position than Sagna was when Altidore outmuscled him.
What did go unnoticed in my opinion during the game was just how poorly Szczesny played. He was caught out numerously and had it not been for some offside calls and good fortune, he could have easily cost us three points. Hopefully it was just a bad day at the office.
All in all, while it was a gritty performance, there were many positives to take from this result. The game might have been a tale of two halves and while the first half showed that Arsenal could go on to score numerous delightful goals this season, the second half displayed the team’s resiliency and desire to win by weathering the storm and putting the game to rest late showing that Arsenal may finally have what it takes to win something this season.
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