Arsenal: Christian Eriksen Puts Mesut Ozil To Shame

Arsenal were outclassed by Spurs on Sunday, with Mesut Ozil particularly poor. The German ‘passenger’ was put to shame by Christian Eriksen, his opposite number.

A North London Derby is a game which you cannot win if you are carrying passengers. And for some time now, Arsenal have entered the most heated and competitive fixture of the season with a number of disinterested, apathetic passengers, players who are not willing to work towards the cause.

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On Sunday, that was once more the case. In fact, it is difficult to name a player who was not a passenger from what was one of the laziest and most lethargic performances in recent memory. One man who has been most heavily scrutinised for his ambivalent display, though, is Mesut Ozil.

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After the game, Jamie Redknapp, working in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports, compared, rather unfavourably, the German to Spurs’ opposite number, Christian Eriksen. Bemoaning the differing attitudes of the two, Redknapp stated:

"“When I looked at Ozil compared to Eriksen there was such a distinct difference between the two in terms of work ethic and pressing and the amount of times Eriksen won the ball back for his team, but also got involved in open play. I thought he was fantastic today, Eriksen. I looked on the flip side at what Ozil offered his team when you want a piece of magic or you want someone to unlock the door.At times there were passengers and you can’t have passengers in these north London derbies.”"

They are extremely fair comments. Perhaps the best way to describe Eriksen’s performance is busy. He was consistently looking for the ball, buzzing around the pitch, drifting wide, dropping deep, spinning in behind; he was incisive and forward-thinking in his passing; he was relentless in his pressing off of the ball, suffocating the life out of Arsenal.

Contrast to the anonymity of Ozil. Once again, he went missing in a big game for the Gunners. While he wasn’t helped when in possession – his style of play is dependent on runs around him, rather than creating chances and scoring goals singlehandedly – he was unwilling to work when out of it, leaving Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain woefully exposed by allowing Ben Davies to bomb forward without ever tracking his forward runs.

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It was another poor performance from Ozil, to add to a growing number. And while at the start of the season, there was much concern over his future in North London given the 2018 expiration of his contract, now, it seems as though the fan base is middling on their opinion of him. It’s almost as if he doesn’t matter.