Goal involvements (assists + goals)

At first, it looks like Ozil might just edge it. The German has been involved in 75 Arsenal goals (29 scored, 46 assisted). That put him just ahead of Arshavin, who played a part in 69 (31 scored, 38 assisted). However Arshavin played a total of 8,698 minutes for The Gunners. Ozil has played a total of 11,741 minutes.

Minutes per goal involvement

Thoughts?

Lol at that pic. But seriously, Ozil is a very good player when he is able to influence the game however, his form is far too inconsistent to alway make a difference. Also, Ozil is that kind of player who used to be scared of goal when he first came to Arsenal. XD But yeah, all in all, I would be tempted to say Arshavin might have been a bit better in term of directly helping his team netting goal while Ozil could be seen as someone who help the build up a bit more. Still believe those stat goes in the direction of Arshavin. He must have been a very good player. :D

I don't know what to say about Ozil, he is one of the most talented midfielders of the game. But he is incredibly inconsistent it's been 3 years in a row he sleeps up in Christmas.:. I would bench him if I was Wenger. And he has the guts to ask for 250k per week ? What did he achieve since he joined Arsenal, a good run then sleep. Wenger is too nice with his players : loosing to a better side giving it all is a thing, loosing with that atitude is another thing.

Exactly, if players are underperforming, specially with this attitude

they needs to be benched, if he is tired, he shouldn't be playing, but then he can't ask for that money increase..

Arshavin FTW!

@quikzyyy :O Dear heaven, take that poor mess that is Ozil off the pitch Wenger, he look like someone who is taking a walk in the middle of the park. Heck, I'm sure a 50 year old could apply more pressure than that. What a sorry mess he look like in this video, I'm starting to get what Tiki meant by Arsenal attitude in the second period against City. :(

I think we're all forgetting just how awful Arshavin was at the end of his Arsenal tenure. That being said, it's a lot easier to get assists when you're assisting Robin Van Persie instead of Giroud. If I recall, last season Ozil led the European leagues in chances created, but Arsenal was just so laughably wasteful in front of goal that it didn't translate into cold hard assists.

Of course, Ozil is so lazy that Germany doesn't even let him play down the middle anymore. He's not tired. He just can't be asked to run unless he thinks he can score/assist a goal. Wanker.

In addition, if we're comparing as a whole, 2008-09 Arsenal > 2016-17 Arsenal. That's not nostalgia either.

Arshavin really was something else... Absolute joy to watch him.

Also came across a funny stat. Karim Benzema has more career club goals than Robin van Persie - in less appearances too (despite being 4 years younger and playing with the likes of Ronaldo and Higuain).

I think Van Persie was handicapped by Arsenal (no disrespect Arsenal fans). He was SO much better at United, particularly that first year, even though he was at the end of his prime, you have to wonder how he would have looked if he'd made the move sooner.

He was amazing the year before he joined United, but he was constantly injured before.

If not for injuries, RVP would definitely be included in the top 3 strikers in his age.

What a silly excuse but an expected one from Wenger and Arsenal fan. You trying to indicate that Arshavin is better than Ozil because we know he will be leaving by the end of the season? You know nothing about football. Hopefully Sanchez will leave as well and you will look just like spurs.

What a silly but an expected comment from the biggest Arsenal hater on this forum. The guy who says I know nothing about football is the same one who says that Messi is not a legend.
I wish you happy christmas, maybe you should ask for a working brain, cheers.

Seems to me anyone at Arsenal has big potential but handicapped by injuries and maybe due Wengers Philosophy . As soon as they love Arsenal they flourish . I will take Ozil to Chelsea any day . We can pay him his 250 k a week , maybe that is why he started to slack because there was stallement on his contract talks .

Also comparing Attacking left winger to Playmaker ? Come on now .. arshavin was inconsistent himself but anyways that is a different topic .

@quikzyyy. Yes, he is not. Only Maradona and Ronaldo (the Brazilian) deserve that. You see I'm not afraid to say my opinion and I don't change my words. But you, previously you were against Wenger, now you trust him. I know I'm hurting you, the sensitive one.

Mourinho benched him several times at Madrid, he even harassed him several times during the game. I don't know if it's his stamina or lack of sacrifice to achieve or maybe a little of both, but any of these reasons lead to bench. He was not the absolute star at Madrid and couldn't threat the club to leave, so maybe benching him was easier there. But imo No player is bigger than a club and for me you lead your teammates by showing the example like Alexis. If he had Alexis motivation and Stamina he would have been the best player in PL and the best in the world in his position.
But then if Wenger acted rude with him, ManCity or other PL teams would open their arms to attract him as star players in PL are protected by the fact you can switch club easily for a bigger contract without even switching the City at times, so the owner teams are very careful and try to please their players in term of wages and patience.

Ozil at Madrid was never the main man, despite being an important player. If Mou felt that he wasn't playing well, like @Tiki said, he could easily bench him. Kaka was waiting on the bench too, and despite his injuries, Kaka was still a top-class player in his 30's. Ozil had to perform well in order to stay in the starting XI. When Ancelotti came, I guess he didn't believe Ozil to be a player fit for his RM team, so he sold Ozil when asked by Perez to choose between ADM and Ozil. Good decision in the end, since ADM went on to be MOTM in our 2014 CL final victory.

But then again, Ozil's compatriots in Arsenal are laughable. Except Alexis, these players wouldn't even make the Real Madrid squad, much less our starting XI.

@Dynastian

I could see Cech cracking it. Bellerin might make the squad. Everyone else has no chance in hell.

Oops, forgot about Cech. No doubt Cech would make the squad. Bellerin > Danilo, so he'd make it too. Everyone else would be a goner.

@Dynastian98 I could see some of Arsenal defensif midfielder make decent backup for Casemiro as well, Coquelin in particular and Xhaka could make it in my opinion for when Casemiro is injured.