Arsenal: Mesut Ozil gave Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli a lesson in class

Arsenal nation has been divided about Mesut Ozil, but seeing him teach Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli what class truly is should unite just about everyone.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to this subject matter. You all know how much I love tooting my own horn and prior to Arsenal’s clash with Tottenham, I was very adamant that Christian Eriksen was tremendously average.

He was being buoyed by an epic performance for Denmark against Ireland, but that has all of nothing to do with the season at hand. Yet you’ve got journalists and players and coaches gushing over how the Dane is just the greatest thing since the light bulb was invented.

Then you have Dele Alli, the crowned prince of flopping – I mean of the future of English football.

Both of these players were touted as Arsenal wreckers. This midfield was supposed to eat Arsenal’s midfield alive because Spurs beat a beleaguered Real Madrid and put the pressure on Chelsea last year. The trophies that Pochettino and the kids have wracked up alone should have had Gooners soiling themselves.

Only it was all crap. It was all over-hyped crap and proof that the strong bias against Arsenal is alive and well. And now that the Gunners stuck it to the crap and the hype, all the cackling Spurs-strokers have crawled under rocks and played the victim, calling Arsenal mean or not saying anything at all.

It’s gross. Spurs were coming off a dull 1-0 win over the dreaded Crystal Palace, a 1-0 loss to Manchester United, yes, a 3-1 win over Real Madrid, but also a 3-2 collapse against West Ham. Yet because Eriksen put up three against Ireland, they are world-beaters and he was the best he’s ever been.

The best part about all of this is that the man that stuck it to the two prodigal sons of Tottenham was Mesut Ozil, the man the media loves to hate. I have been tough on Ozil this year myself, but I know enough to never, ever slight someone with his abilities.

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Sure, he has his downfalls like any other player, but to claim that Eriksen is better is a bit much, especially seeing as how in Arsenal’s “downward spiral” Ozil is outperforming Eriksen in the year that Spurs win another trophy for trying.

The North London Derby is a match that men show up to and boys disappear in. Ozil showed up. He was simply superb. He created four chances, grabbed a beautiful assist and looked like a magician over the ball.

Eriksen and Alli created two chances combined, managed just one shot on target combined, lost the ball eight times combined, and only completed about 72% of their combined passes. They were irrelevant, they were feeble and the were limp.

Ozil was everything they were not. Had you combined those two players into one midfield, Ozil still would have been twice as effective as them, if not more. He was class in a big-time fixture and they were crap in a big-time fixture.

But you won’t hear anyone talking about that. Instead, they’ll talk about how Mesut Ozil is leaving for Barcelona.

And you know the best part? This isn’t just a one-off thing. In Ozil’s “awful” year, he is producing 3.4 chances per appearance. Tottenham’s flaccid duo is producing just 3.9 combined. Assist-wise, Ozil is contributing to a goal every 185 minutes. Tottenham’s limp duo is contributing to a goal every 222 minutes.

Mesut Ozil loses possession 2.5 times per appearance. Eriksen loses it 3.8 times and Alli a whopping 5.7 times.

Remember, Ozil is awful and Eriksen and Alli are driving Tottenham to more DVD sales than ever before.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Tottenham

No one has created more chances or produced more assists since Mesut Ozil’s arrival than Mesut Ozil. No matter what you think of the guy, remember that. And remember that he showed Tottenham’s dynamic duo what it means to step up in the face of criticism, the likes of which they have never faced. You know what they say – form is temporary, class is permanent. We saw a fair share of both in the North London Derby and I don’t need to tell you who had more of which.

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