Arsenal: Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil Developing Power Struggle

Arsenal has two sharp-eyed midfielders in Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil, but how can they maximize each other’s talents?

Arsene Wenger has always been a collector of good passers at Arsenal and that trend continues with the combination of Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil. However, after yet another dulled display by Mesut Ozil, I have to ask a question regarding their coexistence – how can they better assist (pun intended) each other in maximizing their own talents?

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First of all, this is an exploration of their styles and their stats. I am not saying they can’t coexist. I just feel that given their talents, they should be much more beneficial to each other than what we have seen thus far. And I have a theory regarding this.

For starters, Both Ozil and Xhaka are players who like to slow the game down and be in control of the tempo. Toss them into a hectic back and forth affair and they will crumble and falter. Look at Everton and Manchester City, for instance.

Part of that comes down to their lack of pace, but most of it comes down to their nature. They are controlling presences that just need to have the ball with time and space. They have other perks, sure, but most of their success comes from that first step.

That was the first thing that got me wondering. Particularly against Swansea, as Mesut Ozil was again slightly below par. He registered no goals, no assists and while he did create three chances, he only managed one shot on target.

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It is clear that he is not yet back in the form that he was earlier in the season. Which fits into the time frame before Granit Xhaka had been given the starting role.

So before I get too far ahead, Let’s investigate what Ozil and Xhaka do with and without each other on the pitch in this Premier League season.

For Mesut Ozil, the big question is creating chances. Well, with Xhaka, he creates 3.09 chances per start and without him, he created 2.6 chances. Xhaka has a much better chances created clip of 1.3 per match without Ozil as compared to 0.7 with Ozil. But again, these numbers are an average and don’t get to the main point here – that it sometimes looks to be a power struggle with Xhaka and Ozil, with the two competing for the central place in the midfield (all stats compiled via WhoScored.com).

The law of averages does not hint at any clear cut message or any warning signs. The only telling difference between the two combined vs the two individually is when it comes to touches.Take a look:

Without Xhaka on the pitch, Ozil averages 88 touches per match. With him, he averages 71 touches.

Xhaka, meanwhile, averages 99 touches without Ozil and 85 touches per start with him. They both take a healthy chunk off of each other’s touches when joined by the other. You may say that doesn’t mean much, but it helps the theory that I am trying to make – that finding a way for these two to work together is still a work in progress, and it makes sense why.

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When Ozil was at his best early on, Xhaka was just getting settled in and wasn’t starting. Now that Xhaka is finally getting into the swing of things, Ozil is just now getting back into gear, where he really hasn’t been in over a month.

There is definitely a competition for power between these two, as their touches fluctuate depending on their company. If nothing else, this is something to monitor as their time on the pitch increases. It is still a small sample size, but on the surface, it’s hard to think that Xhaka won’t, in the end, be a blessing for Ozil, so long as Ozil allows him to be.

Xhaka is a midfield general, he wants to be on the ball and dictating the flow of the game. Ozil, meanwhile, operates best out of the shadows, for lack of a better expression. He has been dwelling on the ball a lot in past years, but that’s because there was a need to.

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I want to see Ozil surrender more touches to Xhaka in exchange for making more with the time that he has. Which will therefore deflect attention away from him. That seems like a positive end goal to glean from this partnership.

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