Arsenal: Dani Ceballos the Mesut Ozil replacement or complement?

Dani Ceballos has returned to Arsenal training and is now available for selection. Should he feature under Mikel Arteta, would it be as a replacement for Mesut Ozil or merely a complement for the German?

If you wanted to pick a position that best illustrates the tactical evolution of football over the past 20 years, you might choose attacking midfield. 20 years ago, the number 10 position, as it is commonly known as, hardly existed. Certainly, it was only just coming into use in England, the two dominant sides at the time, Arsenal and Manchester United, using a near-strict 4-4-2.

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10 years later, everyone had a number 10. The creator in the heart of the team was the most important position on the pitch and every great team in the world had one: Andres Iniesta for Spain and Barcelona, Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, David Silva at Manchester City, Thomas Muller at Bayern Munich.

In 2013, Arsenal jumped on the world-class attacking midfield bandwagon by signing Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid. The German was largely considered the greatest creator in world football at the time and it was quite a shock that he chose to come to north London. Nevertheless, he arrived at the Emirates and was thrust straight into Arsene Wenger’s system, playing in the 4-2-3-1 shape that had swept through the game.

But within three or four years, the role of the number 10 had changed again. Jurgen Klopp had abandoned it altogether, using a false-nine in a 4-3-3, while Pep Guardiola shifted to a 4-3-3 with two half-eights, attacking midfielders by trade who were positioned slightly deeper and tasked with providing more athleticism and energy than just their play in possession.

Kevin de Bruyne is the perfect proponent of this role. He boasts the creativity of Ozil but combines it with a pace, energy and athleticism that makes him extremely effective when carrying the ball from deep and pressing high up the pitch without the ball. The two-way number 10 is here.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta is steeped in the Guardiolian approach. He spent three-and-a-half years following his retirement in Manchester as an assistant coach and played a key role in developing the best team in world football. It is not an overly egregious assumption to claim that he would want to use a 4-3-3 with two half-eights.

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And yet, so far this season, he has stuck to a 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders and Ozil sitting in front. His hands have been tied by the options available to him, especially in attacking midfield, but could Arteta now shift to the 4-3-3 that his former boss so adores?

This week, Arteta confirmed that midfielder Dani Ceballos is now back in training and is available for selection:

"“Yes. Dani had an injury where he was out for almost two months and had to go to Madrid for his rehab. He came back and in the first few weeks I didn’t think that he was physically at the level to compete for starting games. It’s true that I have players in that position who have been performing really well, and last week when I believed that he was ready to step in, I decided to pick another player. But he’s been training good, I’m happy with him and I know him really well, so there’s no issues there.”"

Ceballos is a modernised Ozil. He is a more athletic, better-dribbling creator who also works hard without the ball. He is the quintessential half-eight. You might expect, then, Arteta to use Ceballos as a replacement for Ozil, easing the 31-year-old out of the team and shifting towards a more modern and longer-term approach. In this manner, Ceballos would be the Ozil replacement.

But it is also plausible that Arteta fully commits to the 4-3-3 and amends Ozil’s position slightly, moving him to the right to emulate de Bruyne’s role at City and pairing him with Ceballos to the left as two half-eights in front of one holding midfielder, likely Lucas Torreira. In this manner, Ceballos would be the Ozil complement.

Both systems have their respective pros and cons. And it might take a little experimentation for Arteta to determine which shape and personnel set-up is the best for Arsenal at this present time. But Ceballos’ return provides versatility and options in central midfield, something that Arteta has not had throughout his Arsenal tenure.