Arsenal Vs Spurs: Further Assessing Jermaine Jenas’ Claim

The ex-Spuds player Jermaine Jenas claimed Tottenham’s midfield was far superior to that of Arsenal’s. While Andrew already exposed the ridicule within this statement, I will look to further assess his claim.

Title-rivals are always going to compare their players and argue why their stars are superior. As Arsenal fans, we engage in such activities just as much as others. While bias is often at the forefront of most arguments. We have to try and look at the situation with some degree of neutrality.

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The players in question with regards to Jermaine Jenas’ statement are Arsenal’s starting midfield trio of Coquelin, Xhaka and Ozil and Tottenham’s of Wanyama, Dembele and Eriksen. I will be comparing each player to their counterpart and assessing individually and collectively which trio of midfielders is better.

I will start with the most defensive of either side. At Arsenal, that is Francis Coquelin and at Tottenham, that is Victor Wanyama. While many Gooners will immediately say Coquelin is the better player, there is some debate. Both men are excellent with regards to physicality and defensive discipline but their offensive qualities are limited.

Wanyama seems to rely more on brute force while Coquelin uses his pace and instinct more in his tackling. It is a real toss up but if I had to choose, as much as it irks me, I would probably go with the Kenyan. Considering his experience in the Premier League and his slight edge attacking wise, Wanyama currently looks the better player…just.

The second duo in question is Granit Xhaka vs Mousa Dembele. The swiss army knife is in his infancy in England while Dembele has had numerous seasons in the English top flight. I will admit that Dembele is one of the more underrated players in the division and on his day (like against us) he can be unplayable.

The problem is, these days don’t occur often enough. Dembele has struggled with consistency throughout his Tottenham career. Xhaka may not be a model of consistency either but he strikes me as more of a stable operator.

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Furthermore, Xhaka looks like he has more potential than his Belgian counterpart. The ceiling for the swiss man looks to be much higher than Dembele’s and for that reason I believe he is the better player.

If you have been following well enough, that means the score is 1-1 (like it was last Saturday) in the North London midfield comparison battle. However, Arsenal will be taking this one because next, we are comparing Christian Eriksen and Mesut Ozil.

With no disrespect to Eriksen, there can be no argument here. Even die-hard Spuds will admit that Ozil is far superior to the Dane Eriksen. The two are just in different leagues (not literally of course). While Ozil breaks records and scores hat tricks, Eriksen is a lot less effective. Sure, the Dane has his stellar performances but even at his best, he can’t match the magical Mesut.

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Let’s conclude, shall we. While this has definitely been a close battle, it’s safe to say Arsenal’s midfield trumps that of Tottenham. Jenas’ claim has been made to look stupid and the bias of his comment has undermined his punditry. Whether it be with regards to midfield personnel or success in general, Tottenham will forever remain in Arsenal’s shadow.