Arsenal: Mesut Ozil not in Kevin de Bruyne’s zip code

Kevin de Bruyne totally outshone Mesut Ozil on Sunday. Arsenal’s creative midfielder once again went missing when it mattered most. He is not even in the same zip code as the Belgian.

There have been two criticisms that have always been levelled at Mesut Ozil. They do, actually, often go hand-in-hand, and surface after lacking performances like the one during Arsenal’s Sunday afternoon trip to Etihad, where they were dismantled by a far superior Manchester City to the tune of a 3-1 scoreline.

Related Story: Arsenal Vs Manchester City: 3 blameless starters

The first is an unwillingness to work without the ball. Rightly or wrongly, Ozil is seen as a luxury player, someone who must be carried by those around, someone who must be worked around and provided for. Per his detractors, he is lazy, disinterested, unmoved by and unaware of danger. He does not put the effort it.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

The second pertains to his repeatedly anonymous displays against the rest of the top six, especially away from home. Ozil, as Arsenal’s club-record signing before Alexandre Lacazette arrived in the summer, was hoped to be a carrying figure that the team could rely on to lead them in these extremely competitive and narrowly-determined fixtures. That has been far from the case, as it was again on Sunday.

Now, these two are conjoined somewhat. In games against the traditional top six away from home, Arsene Wenger has increasingly set up in a defensive manner, demanding that his players relinquish possession, sit deep, and protect their shape and structure without the ball. That is not Ozil’s strength. So his going missing in these sort of games is not necessarily his fault; the style that he plays with, what he offers the team, the type of player that he is, does not suit that the strategy that Wenger tends to employ.

However, for £42 million, should that really matter? Should he be restricted by the system that his manager installs? Should he not be able to flourish in a variety of positions with different roles and responsibilities? Take, for example, his opposite number on Sunday.

Kevin de Bruyne has been asked to play in a plethora of different positions this season, from a deeper-lying midfielder to a double-pivoting number 8, from a wide attacker to an advanced attacking-midfielder playing off the central striker. And yet, he excels wherever Pep Guardiola sees it fit to station him. His quality breaks the mould that he is put in.

And this season, de Bruyne has delivered when it matters most. City have played three top six sides this season — Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal. De Bruyne, in those three games, has scored two goals and assisted two goals, being named ‘Man of the Match’, for what it’s worth, in all three fixtures.

Next: Arsenal Vs Manchester City: 5 things we learned

Given their similarities in position and style, Ozil and de Bruyne have often been associated with one another. Their respective clubs rely on them in a very comparable manner. They are asked to do much of the same things; they must provide a similar creative threat. But, for all there similarities, these are two completely different players. In fact, Ozil is not in the same zip-code as de Bruyne. And it showed on Sunday.