Mesut Özil will definitely be a success at Arsenal, argues Arsène Wenger

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/19/mesut-ozil-arsenal-arsene-wenger

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Arsène Wenger’s confidence in Mesut Özil is sufficient for him to declare that he would pay every penny of his £42m transfer fee all over again. “I would pay the money again. Of course,” he said, as the Özil debate dominated the agenda before Arsenal’s trip to Villa Park on Saturday.

Wenger did add that he feels pressure as a manager to make Özil a success. “I feel that responsibility exactly the same for a player who cost £1. When I see a talent, for any player, I think how can I get the best out of him. That is not linked with price. It is just a coincidence that the market is like it is.

“He’s a confident boy. This guy has played for the German national team and won the World Cup playing wide and nobody found a word to say. He has been criticised during the World Cup and still played well and he was always in every single team. He can be a top player.”

That wider role is a sticking point at the moment, as Özil is straining to influence Premier League games from a wider position. Wenger takes inspiration from some legendary sides of old as he tries to create a game plan to get the best out of the collection of No10s he has assembled.

“Zidane went to Real Madrid for £82m and he played on the left. There was never a debate and he had to play there,” Wenger argues. “Because in the middle they had Raul and Ronaldo he made room and played on the left. When you have the ball you play where you want and go where you want.

“It is a debate as old as the world. Since we played football. When you look at the Brazil team in 1970 they had Tostão, Rivelino, Pelé, Jairzinho, Gerson, Clodoaldo, They all played No10 in their clubs. They put them all together and they won the World Cup in a convincing way.

“What is Wilshere but basically a No10? He played his whole life at No10. Somebody had to go out there. Is it Wilshere, Özil, Ramsey? Nobody is really natural out wide. So you keep good players out or you try to get them together.”

At various points this season already Wenger has tried each of those players, plus Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sánchez, as his central playmaker.

It smacks of a certain indecision but Wenger is hopeful that a fluid system that accommodates the best of the creative talent at his disposal will eventually come good. Trying to be the new 1970 Brazil in the modern game sounds ambitious. “It is,” says Wenger, “but without ambition you cannot progress. We have that desire to play well all together and I think we can really achieve it. We can have a fantastic team.”

Who would be this team’s Pelé? “There is no Pelé,” says Wenger. “Pelé scored 1,300 goals. I asked Mario Zagallo – who played with the best Brazilians, who managed Brazil, who has seen all of the best Brazilians right up until today – who is the best Brazilian you have seen, and he said Pelé, together with Garrincha.”