Ozil-powered Arsenal starting to look unstoppable

It’s like a breath of fresh air in English football — Arsenal not underachieving, Arsenal not succumbing to pressure, Arsenal not being blasted for being lackluster and under-strength… Arsenal looking like a mean winning machine again. On Tuesday night, on the 17th anniversary of Arsene Wenger walking in to Highbury in geeky glasses with a weird French-Japanese accent, Arsenal swept aside one of the most in-form sides in Europe. Napoli may have been without their lethal marksman Gonzalo Higuain — ironically the man who Arsenal were chasing — but Higuain or no Higuain, the talented side from Naples had no answer to Arsenal’s bustling midfield. If the first half was a brilliant example of attacking movement and ball-keeping, the second was that of containing pressure against a side with the likes of Marek Hamsik, Lorenzo Insigne, Gokhan Inler, Jose Callejon and Pepe Reina — and managed by Rafael Benitez. They haven’t lost a single game in the Serie A. Once the Gunners found their two-goal cushion, it was about waiting to see the game off. How many times have we seen them fail to do that in the last few years? But this time, they were relentless. They had the drive, the commitment and the determination to finish off a job well started. [caption id=“attachment_1148025” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The German doesn’t plug all the gaps in their midfield, but what he did was give a massive lift to the rest of the side. Getty Images[/caption] Wenger must actually thank the fans for this. They put enough pressure on him — the supporter’s trust going as far as to say that he shouldn’t get a new contract . He may already have had a signing up his sleeve, but when the fans turn on you, you need to act fast. And Wenger landed arguably the world’s finest creative midfielder in Mesut Ozil. The German doesn’t plug all the gaps in their midfield , but what he did was give a massive lift to the rest of the side. It will be unfair to credit their early form to one man — but what Ozil’s presence does is force those around him to raise their standards. You’re seeing it in the maturity of Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman was stuck in limbo between concentrating on defence or attack last season but the presence of Mathieu Flamini behind him and Ozil alongside him has suddenly unlocked all that talked about potential. He has eight goals and three assists in 10 games; Ozil has six assists and one goal in eight games. Ramsey made no interceptions, didn’t have a single aerial duel, made just four tackles and spent just 7.37% of his time on the pitch in the defensive half. In comparison, Flamini made three interceptions, had a 100% tackling rate and completed 73 of his 76 passes — 40 of which came in his own half. The Frenchman is dictating the flow of the game from the back, allowing the more creative players to stream forward. Mesut Ozil also didn’t make any defensive contribution — as he and Ramsey solely concentrated on unlocking the Italians’ defence. In contrast, it was Mikel Arteta who supported Flamini’s defensive role. The Spaniard stuck at the half-line as a link between the five defensive players (four defenders and Flamini) and those who played up front. It’s a beautifully oiled machine — hard to break up, fast on the attack and transition, able to soak up the pressure and interchange positions rapidly. Add to this side the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla, Abou Diaby, Lukas Podolski and the benched Jack Wilshere. They have lost just once all season (1-3 vs Villa). After a long long time, this Arsenal squad look unstoppable. Stats taken from Squawka.com