Arsenal vs Spurs: Mesut Ozil no longer the doomsday key

Arsenal face Spurs with a brand new lease on life. So much so that the usual Tottenham tactic of shutting down Mesut Ozil is inconsequential.

There is one example I always revert to when thinking about Arsenal’s former vulnerability of having Mesut Ozil shut down. I think of the time Tottenham stuck Victor Wanyama on him and literally sucked the fun out of the match. He did it well though, have to give him credit for that.

Since then, I have felt like that was Spurs go-to. Sic the biggest midfielder on Ozil and shut down their supply lines. It bred feelings of insecurity.

Oddly enough, that was all overcome last time out. In a midfield display that was truly superb, the Gunners were able to overcome a physically stronger and more athletic midfield with the maligned duo of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka.

This time around, I we should be thoroughly welcoming a potential shut-down-Ozil tactic by the Spurs because nowadays, it solves nothing. While the Gunners were certainly once a bit dependent on the magic of the German maestro, they aren’t anymore.

Look at what happened against Everton. Even with Ozil far from the main stage performer, the club still put up five goals and they did it incredibly easily, with contributions from Ozil that, honestly could have been replicated.

That’s not to slight Ozil. He was still fantastic. But he was fantastic in a behind the curtain kind of way.

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Tottenham now have to worry about the second king, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and the superhuman that is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. They already have a brief history of troubles with Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan’s reincarnation should be causing teams to reevaluate the Armenian that they thought they could control, given his struggles under Jose Mourinho.

This isn’t just a Spurs thing though. This is a going forward thing. There had long been fears that maybe the Gunners were too dependent on Alexis and/or Ozil, depending on the day. When there is just one guy that determines the fate of a club, every match is a bit nerve-wracking.

Now that there are so many weapons on the same playing field (as in, the same level), there isn’t really a match set up that should give us pause.

Next: 5 Key Players To Watch vs Tottenham

Some may say that I am getting ahead of myself. That Arsenal will find a way to “balls it up” as my co-editor Andy so often says. But I don’t think there is anyway they can. There is so much quality here and so many players that can take the reigns that I, for one, am not nervous.

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