Danny Murphy claims he would pick Arsenal player over former Spur

Former Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy has claimed that Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil is a better player than Christian Eriksen and that the German international has had a better career in the Premier League.

Both Ozil and Eriksen arrived in the Premier League in the summer of 2013 from Real Madrid and Ajax respectively.

The pair both boast of quite similar numbers for Arsenal and Spurs in the past six and a half seasons.

While Eriksen has 51 goals and 66 assists to his name in 226 appearances in the Premier League for Spurs [transfermarkt], Ozil has scored 32 goals and supplied 57 assists to his teammates during his time in North London [transfermarkt].

However, while the 31-year-old has multiple FA Cups to show for his time with the Gunners, while Eriksen failed to win any competitive silverware during his time in English football before moving to Inter Milan last month.

Murphy insisted that he would rather have the former Real Madrid star in his team over the Dane due to his ability to perform in big games.

When asked to split the two, the former England star told Drive on TalkSport (28/01/20 at 5:15 pm): “If you were asking who I would have in my team, I’d have Ozil ahead of Eriksen, It’s a tough one. [But] Ozil is better.”

“A lot of the time Eriksen’s best stuff comes when the team is doing well and the players around him are playing well. A bit like Ozil.

“[He cannot] grab a game by the scruff of its kneck on his own. He’s not a physical presence. But he’s a technically a good player, who could bang in a good free-kick.

“I think he has done brilliantly at times for Spurs. Football is about opinion. Mine isn’t right and yours isn’t right. We have all got our own.

“I just think that Ozil in a big game in the past [has played well], he’s won World Cups, and he’s done more than Eriksen. He has been more successful.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I disagree with Murphy that Ozil has played better in big games than Eriksen has in the Premier League. Discounting the last year or so, the Dane always turned up with big goals or assists in key matches. It is a shame how his Tottenham career petered out in the end but despite all the big trophies to Ozil’s name, I would still prefer an on form and firing Eriksen over the German. Unfortunately, it became clear towards the end of his time at Spurs that we were never going to see him get back to his best. He needed a change and I wish he wins a few trophies at Inter as he deserves to finish his career with more accolades.

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