EPL Monday: Chelsea Is Unstoppable; How Good is Mesut Ozil?

The English Premier League returned this weekend and a familiar lament was heard across social media: how the hell is anyone going to stop Chelsea from moonwalking to the title? Yes, it’s only four games into the season but … Jose Mourinho looks to have assembled an unstoppable force at Stamford Bridge ready to waylay all comers in its wake, despite falling behind to Swansea in an eventual 4-2 victory. The scariest aspect, following his hat trick vs. Swansea City, new striker Diego Costa is up to seven goals, having avoided a crippling case of Kežman-Shevchenko disease on the flight over from Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea flirted with the title last season with the Sameul Eto’o/Fernando Torres/Demba Ba troika combining for 19 league goals, now with Costa supported by Loïc Remy it’s hard to come up with a scenario where the Blues fall short, bar a total team meltdown for a month. After four matches the Blues have already established a five-point gap between themselves and Manchester City, scoring a league-high 15 goals in the process.

Is this going overboard after four matches? Perhaps, but what is so imposing about Chelsea is the team’s depth. There isn’t a spot on the field — save for center back — where the club doesn’t have a highly-capable replacement. It doesn’t hurt, either, that since coming over from Spain Cesc Fabregas is looking like a guy used to playing FIFA on legendary setting, only to get dropped in to a few on “Professional” difficultly now that he’s back in England.

True, Chelsea’s already allowed six goals which is high for a Mourinho-managed team. However, if the Blues jump out to a big gap atop the table, he’s got enough defensive players to park the bus and play for, dour, soul-sucking one-goal games when Chelsea plays the other title-contenders.

Maybe it’s because I’m on a major Simpsons kick lately, but right now Chelsea feels like the softball team comprised of ringers assembled by Mr. Burns in “Homer at the Bat.” There’s going to need to be a lot of trips by Chelsea players to the Springfield Mystery Spot or cases of nerve tonic delivered to Stamford Bridge to slow down Chelsea’s presumptive run to the title in May.

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Is Mesut Özil “good”?

Narrative alert: If you woke up to watch Arsenal’s 2-2 draw early Saturday morning with Manchester City, the analyst on the world audio feed, Danny Mills, spent a lot of time harping on Gunners midfielder Mesut Özil, the club’s record-signing from last August. This, coupled with Özil’s mostly nondescript World Cup with Germany in the summer is enough for people to start wondering what all the fuss is about, apparently.

This is what the stats say about Özil. In the 2013-14 season, after signing from Real Madrid on the final day of the transfer window, he played in 25 games scoring five goals with nine assists, completing 88 percent of his passes. This year he’s played in three games without a goal or an assist. Is this enough from a player whom it seemed like a no-brainer for the Gunners to sign when he fell into their laps late in the 2013 summer window? Özil’s reputation coming to Arsenal was of being a great passer, piling up assist totals of 17, 17 and 13 in his previous three seasons during league play with Real Madrid.

Özil’s assist totals at Madrid are inflated thanks to playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and for a team that generally dominants most other teams in the league. And stats hardly tell the whole story. If Özil is good enough to start at Real Madrid and for Germany during its World Cup triumph, he obviously is a pretty good player.

At the same time it’s difficult to think of a indelible moment in his career since the move to Arsenal, or a stretch where he dominated games. That said, the perception on Özil is generally defined by small margins. If he plays a killer, weighted through ball to set up a goal, we think he’s great, but if instead he merely plays a lot of short passes in the middle of the field to maintain possession we think he underwhelms. Özil is also hurt by the longstanding English soccer belief that unless a player runs his lungs out for 90 minutes, zooming around the field he’s not giving it his all.

Has Özil performed like a $70 million player for Arsenal? Not exactly, but I’d still think Arsene Wenger would want the German’s name on the team sheet when he’s making a lineup, this week in particular when the Champions League resumes. We’ll have to see if this is a case of fans expecting and or wanting more from a player, or an actual decline in form by the German midfielder.

Engine, Engine No. … 7?

For the second straight year a big-time, left-footed Real Madrid player moved to the EPL late in the transfer window for the GDP of a small country. A year ago it was Özil. This summer it was Angel Di Maria. Like the German, the Argentine midfielder came in with a great reputation and lots of assists (17 in La Liga 2013-14) helping set up Ronaldo.

Given Di Maria’s Manchester United career stands at only two games, it’s unfair to compare Özil right away. On his own, it’s still impressive to witness Di Maria stepping up from a complementary player at Real Madrid to arguably the team’s most important tactical piece during its run to its 10th Champions League triumph in May. Manchester United fans, like Argentina fans (up until the World Cup final) can thank Carlo Ancelotti for converting Di Maria into a dynamic, two-way midfield force. Back in July I compiled a Top 10 soccer players list during the World Cup, looking back on it leaving Di Maria off is a terrible oversight, although when you spend so much of your time in the same lineup as Ronaldo and Lionel Messi it’s easy to get overlooked.

Sunday, against a hapless QPR side, Di Maria quickly asserted himself as United’s most-important player along with scoring his first goal for the club in a 4-0 rout. (Hey, look no more three-man defense!) If it hurts Wayne Rooney’s fragile ego, so be it, but the United team should go through Di Maria until further notice. United completed over 90 percent of its passes vs. QPR, which looked like it didn’t belong on the field at Old Trafford. It’s premature to label the new-look United “back,” but that doesn’t diminish the potential impact Di Maria can make, driving the team from the center of the field. Still, a midfield based around Di Maria, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind if a good start for United, saying nothing of whatever strikers Louis van Gaal settles upon.

Remember, guys who wear No. 7 at Old Trafford have a pretty, pret-tay good history of making good.

Stat of Week:

Goal of the Week:

Alexis Sanchez’s volley vs. Manchester City was something special.

Around the league:

Starting the game with an injured Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling on the bench, Liverpool looked like a team that had never played before, losing 1-0 to Aston Villa. The Reds mustered only one shot on target during the match, clearly disjointed following the international break. Brendan Rodgers squad rotation with the Champions League resuming this week will be under the microscope. … Credit to Aston Villa, of course, 10 points from four matches without Christian Benteke is an absolute dream start given Paul Lambert’s club was tipped for relegation prior to the season. … It doesn’t appear as if Newcastle United is in a rush to fire Alan Pardew. I’m all for giving guys a chance and not rushing to judgement, but Pardew’s track record coaching in the EPL doesn’t rouse much hope for the Magpies future.

Looking Ahead:

Tuesday Liverpool makes its return to the Champions League, facing Bulgarian club Ludogorets, while Arsenal (without Mathieu Debuchy and Nacho Monreal) and Borussia Dortmund renew acquaintances. On Wednesday Bayern Munich and Manchester City meet once again in the opening round’s marquee matchup. Things don’t get any easier for City, when it plays Chelsea on Sunday in the standout EPL game of the weekend.