Analysis: Santi Cazorla vs. Mesut Özil

Mesut Ozil has had plenty of critics in recent weeks for his, supposed, below par performances. It culminated in his having been rested – or dropped completely – against Sunderland at the weekend.

Plenty of Arsenal fans still feel positive about Ozil but his slow and lethargic display against Bayern Munich last week was enough for some people to lose their patience and some in the media think he’s not doing enough, pointing to the efforts shown by Santi Cazorla on a regular basis. Ozil glides around the pitch, almost without breaking a sweat, managing to pick teams off and slice them open. Cazorla can do the same but is more about all-action involvement than the composed German.

Is this why some believe Ozil to be overrated and Cazorla to be more effective? Because it looks like one tries harder than the other? Let’s check the statistics out.

Ozil set the Premier League alight earlier in the season with his array of passes and the type of vision the normal player does not possess. His passes were consistently causing problems for opposition up and down the land, the attacking players around him having benefited tremendously from his inch-perfect passing. After 27 matches, Ozil has created 63 chances which is one of the highest in the league. Cazorla, meanwhile, is below him by some margin, having created 40 chances.

The pair have both appeared in 21 league games this season so a comparison is valid. The Spaniard, Cazorla, has scored four goals – most of which have come in 2014. Ozil also has four to his name and boasts a much better shot accuracy than Cazorla – 84% to 63%.

The way that Cazorla and Ozil play, it would only to be fair to compare their chance creation and impact in the final third of play. Ozil is seen by many around the world as the best ‘number 10? in the business while Cazorla has plenty of fans, too.

Due to the German having played 1802 minutes to Cazorla’s 1710 in the Premier League, it would be fair to use stats based on every 90 minutes both are on the field.

Ozil averages 2.75 key passes per 90mins, much better than Cazorla’s 1.89. He also provides assists at a better rate (0.4 to 0.21) as the German international has assisted eight goals to Cazorla’s four.

If you put those figures together, it means that Mesut Ozil creates 3.15 chances per 90 minutes while Cazorla only manages 2.11.

It is these figures that show a true reflection of how effective and important Mesut Ozil is to Arsenal. He may not sprint and run all around the pitch at the high-octane speed English fans call for but does provide the quality necessary in the final third for a top quality side to regularly challenge for trophies.

Ozil has displayed his talents for Real Madrid, Werder Bremen and Germany. He is now demonstrating them for the Gunners but is being criticised for not ‘putting enough effort in’. Ozil may not regularly break into a full-on sprint but the German is deceptively fast – you have to be to keep up with Cristiano Ronaldo while playing a counter-attacking style at Real Madrid!

For all his talents, Ozil’s level of performance has dropped ever so slightly recently. That may be down to fatigue or a poor attitude but his talents are still evident.

When you’re as good at football as Mesut Ozil, you don’t always have be sprinting and showing passion on the surface. Sometimes it takes a cool head to rise above the rest and dominate – and Ozil can do that to perfection.