Mesut Ozil: English football’s only true number ten?

Over the past couple of seasons, matches between Arsenal and Chelsea have inevitably prompted comparisons between Cesc Fabregas and Mesut Ozil, a clash of two fantastic playmakers.

Arsenal past and Arsenal present, the two are World Cup winners and masters of the assist. Fabregas collected 18 during his first, title-winning campaign with Chelsea, inviting criticism of Arsene Wenger for turning down the chance to sign the Spaniard. But last season Ozil hit back, going one better to record 19 assists. This weekend should have been yet another showdown between the two.

But their latest meeting is unlikely to happen. While Fabregas has provided some crucial passes as a supersub this season, and scored two goals against Leicester in the midweek League Cup tie, new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is building a side without Fabregas.

The reason, in short, is that Fabregas is a tactically undisciplined player, someone difficult to incorporate in a structured, disciplined system. Even at his best, Fabregas causes problems – Pep Guardiola described him as an ‘anarchic’ player, while Jose Mourinho wasn’t entirely sure whether to use him in an advanced role, or much deeper, in his favoured 4-2-3-1 system.

Conte, meanwhile, has settled upon a 4-3-3 system. And while that theoretically suits Fabregas nicely, allowing him to bomb forward into attack, Conte’s 4-3-3 is very structured in midfield, with Oscar and Nemanja Matic holding their positions and spreading slightly towards the touchlines, creating a three-man cordon the opposition find it difficult to counter through. Sudden forward movement from that duo is rare – and when it comes, is often about pressing opponents rather than attacking. Fabregas, it seems, can’t be trusted to do that.

Ozil is a different type of player. Although sometimes fielded deeper for Germany over the past year, Ozil is a more advanced playmaker who belongs in the final third, almost a half-forward who concentrates purely on providing the finishing touches, rather than orchestrating his side’s play and putting his team in command. Crucially, Ozil is allowed the freedom to concentrate upon this, because at Arsenal’s he’s effectively afforded a free role.

The free role is becoming something of a rarity in English football – and there’s been a small but dramatic shift this season. Chelsea and Manchester City have both switched from a 4-2-3-1 system to a 4-3-3, meaning no room for a typical number 10. At the latter, Pep Guardiola has adjusted impressively by converting David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne into deeper midfielders, but few managers would be confident enough of making this work – and they are nevertheless playing roles with stricter responsibilities than they’re accustomed to. Liverpool are also playing a 4-3-3 system with the most natural number 10, Coutinho, out wide.

Tottenham, like Arsenal, use a 4-2-3-1, although the player in that number ten role, whether midfielders like Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen, or a deep-lying forward like Harry Kane, have stricter positional instructions than a player given a genuine free role.

In fact, of the clubs chasing the Champions League spots this year, perhaps the only other player seemingly given a free role is Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, allowed to float between the lines, only sporadically influencing play. It seems obvious that, should Mourinho want a proper number 10 in that role, he should turn to Juan Mata or Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but they’re either out wide, or out of the side.

Rooney is not a great advert for a free role; for both club and country he’s struggling to justify his place in the starting XI, never mind a free role. For as long as Manchester United continue to look laboured and disjointed with a player allowed that freedom, and the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham look dynamic, organised and dangerous with a more structured system, the concept of the free role will surely decline in popularity, it being seen as nothing more than indulging a player at the expense of cohesion.

But Ozil offers another interpretation. When such a selfless footballer and an intelligent user of space is given the freedom to go his own way, to play outside the rest of the team’s structure, he’s capable of bringing the attacks together in a manner that almost defies logic, that transcends tactics and organisation.

Peculiarly, English football has never before been blessed with so many players capable of playing a free role, yet arguably only Ozil is successfully playing that way for a major club at the moment. For the sake of tactical variety and individual brilliance, let’s hope he continues to shine.

Arsenal are currently 7/1 to win the Premier League, which might be worth a punt.