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Time on Ozil’s side, but Fellaini must impress today

The World Cup qualifiers are over and Arsenal and Manchester United supporters will finally get to see each club’s new main signing in action this weekend. Our EPL analyst ADRIAN CLARKE (sports [at] mediacorp.com.sg) tells you what he thinks Mesut Ozil and Marouane Fellaini will bring to the Gunners and the Red Devils respectively.

The World Cup qualifiers are over and Arsenal and Manchester United supporters will finally get to see each club’s new main signing in action this weekend. Our EPL analyst ADRIAN CLARKE (sports [at] mediacorp.com.sg) tells you what he thinks Mesut Ozil and Marouane Fellaini will bring to the Gunners and the Red Devils respectively.

LONDON — Overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Arsenal and Manchester United fans reacted quite differently to their respective deadline day signings.

It’s no exaggeration to suggest that fans of the Gunners the world over have gone bananas in delirious excitement at the arrival of £42.4 million (S$85.1 million) record signing Mesut Ozil.

Shirts with the German playmaker’s name are flying out of the club shop faster than they can print them, umlauts are everywhere on Twitter timelines, and supporters will flock in their thousands from London to Wearside to pay homage to their new No 11 when he makes his much-anticipated debut at Sunderland tonight.

For the first time since Dennis Bergkamp joined Arsenal in 1995 — when yours truly was part of the first-team squad incidentally — my former club have signed a world-class player in his pomp. It hasn’t just stunned supporters; it’s left them dizzy with delight.

Ozil will have to live up the hype — but I don’t think that will be too hard for him. Don’t expect miracles at Sunderland but once the classy German settles into English life and the Premier League, he and Arsenal will be just fine.

This season, Arsenal have adopted a more counter-attacking style and Arsene Wenger knows that Ozil will work fantastically well in that set-up. He’s a player that moves with the ball quickly, and has a razor-sharp eye for a killer pass.

Technically he suits the team’s existing style, and with Theo Walcott always looking to make runs in behind opposition defences, the England winger couldn’t ask for a better supply line in world football. No one in Europe has created more goals than the ex-Real Madrid star over the course of the last five seasons.

The Gunners rarely struggle to create chances, but when they do, it’s invariably against teams that put 10 men behind the ball and shut up shop. To break those stubborn units, you need quick-thinking footballers who can spot a pass and play it that fraction of a second faster than the defenders can react. For £42.4 million, Arsenal have found that man.

In contrast to the buzz over Ozil at the Emirates, there’s been barely a murmur about Marouane Fellaini at Old Trafford.

It’s a little harsh on Fellaini that David Moyes’ substantial £27.5 million acquisition from Everton has been received with so much apathy.

All right, so he’s not Cesc Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Daniele De Rossi, or whisper it quietly, Ozil, but he isn’t exactly an Eric Djemba-Djemba either. This is a midfielder of proven Premier League quality that will improve the champions and their mildly under-performing squad.

Today, the afro-haired Belgian will kick off his United career with a home game against Crystal Palace, and I expect him to catch the eye.

Fellaini will probably step in for Tom Cleverley, and that’s an instant upgrade. The 24-year-old England international is a decent ball player but it’s hard to recall him making a huge impact in any of his 51 first-team appearances to date. Lacking punch going forward, the former youth product is safe but hardly ever sensational.

United’s new man certainly has more capacity to shine, but how Moyes chooses to utilise him is intriguing. The player views himself as a specialist defensive midfielder and that’s where he’s likely to be deployed, alongside Michael Carrick, another deep-lying playmaker. Between them it’s a duo that boasts strength, intelligence and guile but neither is a renowned tackler. Carrick prefers to stand on his feet, while Fellaini has a reputation for taking the man more often than the ball.

I’m convinced Fellaini is more effective in an attacking midfield role, where he can burst into the box to score goals — but with Rooney, Danny Welbeck and the strangely-ignored Shinji Kagawa ahead of him in the pecking order that’s unlikely to happen too often.

I suspect that to win over the fans, and to give United’s team what they really need, Fellaini should reinvent himself as an all-action box-to-box midfielder who defends and attacks with equal distinction. A good start would be by making a favourable impression this evening.

TODAY EPL analyst Adrian Clarke is a former Arsenal midfielder who has played at every level of English football. Now an experienced sports journalist, he writes for many publications around the world. Follow him on Twitter @adrianjclarke

Fixtures

Today: Man Utd v Crystal Palace, Aston Villa v Newcastle, Fulham v West Brom, Hull v Cardiff, Stoke v Man City, Sunderland v Arsenal, Tottenham v Norwich, Everton v Chelsea,

Tomorrow: Southampton v West Ham

Monday: Swansea v Liverpool

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