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Tuesday 8 October 2013

Mesut Özil - Arsenal Finally Find Their New Bergkamp

After years of searching Wenger has finally found what he's been missing for so long

It was a summer which at times looked like a crisis at Arsenal. Early summer reports of lavish cash stocks made available to the manager created optimism about the season ahead. Yet when players who were linked to the club started to move elsewhere the optimism turned very much to pessimism and outrage. After an opening day defeat to Aston Villa the knives were out for Wenger and Gazidis. Enough was enough. After years of 'failure' on the pitch and failed promises from the management many felt that the time for Wenger was over. 

And then Mesut Özil arrived and just like that things at Arsenal changed. In this article The Whitehouse Address explains that Özil is the most important player to arrive at Arsenal since Bergkamp and the fans and manager should be relieved and very, very excited about it.


World class is a phrase thrown about too easily in today's game. In truth the list of ‘world class’ players is relatively short. To be world class means to be the best and there are very few who deserve this label. It means to be consistent in quality, it means doing it on the very top level again and again. There are very few of these kinds of players. Yet Mesut Özil is one of these players. In fact he is arguably in the top five of the world’s best. A strong statement yet in this blog’s opinion a correct one. 

In truth the Premier League has not attracted many genuine word class talents in recent years, only Man City have in players like Toure, Silva and Aguero. Many other clubs have instead brought in unproven or second rate (still very good) talent; Kagawa, Hazard, Lukaku, Luis Suarez, Coutinho and even Kompany are all players who may reach ‘world class’ levels in England yet who did not arrive as one. To have attracted player of Özil's quality is a great achievement by Arsenal and for the Premier League. 

Signing Özil has taken Wenger's job from precarious to being the most secure in the league. World class players can do that. They can make a manager look great, tactically brilliant and a 'winner'. 

Now it must have amazed Madrid’s fans and players to see a player of his quality leave, and at half the value of Gareth Bale. It must amaze Manchester United fans that their new management team believed him not a viable option (yet they were willing to spend £40m on Khedira instead). Other sides must be kicking themselves at missing out on a player like Özil,  Wenger on the other hand cannot help but smile. 

In fact we have not seen him as happy for almost a decade. Like the chesire cat he has the look of someone who knows how lucky he is. It's like he has won the lottery, and it's not far from the truth.

Missing a certain Dutch maestro

Arsenal have been on a period of 'decline' for many years. Eight years without trophy adds pressure on to a manager. Many are amazed he has continued for so long yet he brings the board what they want....money. Wenger has a knack of qualifying for the Champions League each season and of also qualifying out the group stage. He also sells his players for very good money. He has been economically brilliant for Arsenal. Yet on the pitch opinion is mixed and the trophy cabinet has been collecting significant dust.

Now for this blog it is little surprise that the decline of Arsenal’s fortunes arose after 2006. A loss in the final of the Champions League to Barca was tragic yet it was a significant end for Wenger's side at that time. After the Invincibles Wenger went about dismantling that side and building a new one. His opponents in that final Barcelona were doing something similar yet would prove to enhance the club whereas Wenger took his backwards.

Now some have blamed their failure to win trophies on the new stadium, the debts and the time of thrift at the club. This argument is valid yet flawed too. What Arsenal have failed to do (and Wenger has tried many times) is to replace the master which was Dennis Bergkamp. The Dutch maestro was the most influential and essential part of Wenger’s early success. He was the world class player who made the team work and click. 

The Dutchman was a genius of a player who brought the mentality and mindset of winning to Arsenal. His talent was outstanding yet it was his approach, professionalism and focus which made him so great. A perfectionist who strived for excellence all the time. Bergkamp rose the standards at the club, he showed the British players what was required for success and the club thrived from it.

Replacing the Dutch maestro

The arrival of Wenger was fortuitous for Bergkamp. It is possible that a British manager in the mid-90’s could have ruined the Dutch playmaker by asking him to play in a functional 4-4-2 akin to the British game. And Bergkamp's first season was a mixed one which had people doubting his quality. Luckily David Dein decided to recruit a visionary and modern coach who could take the talents of Bergkamp and propel Arsenal to great heights. 

With the additions of young talent in Henry and Vieria (both who like Bergkamp had struggled in Italy) Wenger assembled a modern, dynamic and athletic side. Bergkamp was the maestro, the one who pulled the strings. Wenger looked a genius and the club prospered. One wonders how great it would have been had Bergkamp not arrived? Yet the same question can be asked of Wenger's arrival too. Both helped the other achieve success.

It was significant that Wenger was so conscious of how iconic Bergkamp had made the number ‘10’ shirt that he gave it to William Gallas so as not to put pressure on a young player who felt the weight of expectation of being Arsenal’s 'new' Bergkamp. Yes Fabregas would play in that 10 role and although an exceptional player was not of the level of Bergkamp. 

Replacing Bergkamp was not easy and players like Rosicky, Fabregas and Arshavin in particular could not take Arsenal to the heights which Bergkamp had. That mantel was eventually taken up by Robin Van Persie who single handedly took the side to a top three finish. 
Yet while Van Persie was a great player yet was not blessed with the talents around him to make Arsenal a title team again. His move to United and domination of the league proved his Bergkamp-esque mindset (he has said how watching Bergkamp train and prepare inspired him as a young player) yet also proved how much Arsenal were lacking. They could entice a player who wanted to win trophies to stay.

In Van Persie's absence Wenger appointed (or anointed) Jack Wilshere as the new '10'. This blog was dubious about this. Whether it was a gesture of faith and belief from his manager or perhaps a sign of desperation it was clear that Wilshere was not ready to take the mantel of responsibility. Cazorla proved to have talent yet did not have the mindset of a winner and leader which Arsenal had thrived on a decade earlier. He showed flashes last season of being something special yet was found lacking in the bigger games. 

A world class addition changes fortunes overnight

What Arsenal needed was a proven world class player, something not easy to come across. And then Florentino Perez in his stupidity and ignorance of football gifted him to Wenger. Just like that Arsenal went from ambling for years desperately finding a replacement for Bergkamp to having him gift wrapped by Madrid in a matter of 24 hours. £42m? Ridiculously good value! 

In a matter of weeks Özil has proven already that he has the ability to influence and galvanise a club which for years has been lacking and yearning for this kind of player for years now. The sign of a great player is how they influence and improve those around them and the German playmaker has certainly done that.

Do not underestimate the impact that signing a world class player does for a club. In 2011 Man City signed Sergio Aguero and the team won the Premier League. United followed that up the next season with the signing of Robin Van Persie and would go on to storm the league. Does this mean Arsenal can win the league? In the summer this blog would have laughed off the suggestion. Yet all of a sudden Arsenal look focused and stronger mentally.

Yes the good form has been going since before Özil arrived yet after a summer of discontent Ozil has recharged the fans, the club and his fellow players. Giroud now looks like a top class forward, knowing that he has a player who can provide him with goals (understandably Ronaldo was devastated when he found out Özil left for this reason). 

Aaron Ramsay looks a new and motivated player and will prosper playing beside a genius like Özil. As for Wilshere we know he has the potential yet needed guidance, nurturing. The concern was that there was no-one at Arsenal to help and support Wilshere, the feeling being he was given too much responsibility for such a young head. Now with Özil English fans should be delighted that Wilshere has someone of this quality to learn from.

A time of optimism or another false dawn?

Arsenal do appear masters of building up hope and expectation only to capitulate at the latter stages. And it is important to learn from history before we appoint Arsenal as champions already. The season is long and their squad significantly short of back-up. Add this to a worrying injury recurrence across the team and there is still little guarantee of a trophy this season. 

Yet the significance of Özil has helped his manager. Just when Wenger's time appeared over, just when the pressure was mounting he pulls a world class rabbit out the hat and prolongs his managerial reign. The fans are now positive and supportive and rightly so. Yet did Wenger do enough to build a title winning side this season or was Özil merely a way of keeping the wolves from the door?

If we look at history again then when when Dennis Bergkamp arrived at Highbury in 1995 there were perhaps those who doubted him yet when he left a decade later he was a legend of the club. Mesut Özil has the potential to be what Bergkamp was for Arsenal, if this is the case then the future all of a sudden looks more brighter and positive for Arsenal and Mr Wenger. After years of finding a replacement for their maestro Wenger has finally found what he has been missing for so long. 

The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address

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