re: Why do people think Countinho is good?

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I take Coutinho based on injury record, age, price and ability to win games on his own.

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If you mean by ability to win games on his own scoring goals when the team has played extremely terribly, then Ozil hasn't done that. But he's played many games where has been the key cog, Dortmund away, Napoli at home, Stoke at home, Southampton away, Cardiff away, Liverpool at home and many more. There are numerous other examples, but we didn't win some of those games despite Ozil playing out of his mind because we are horrible at finishing.

Ozil does little things to keep the offense ticking. He can control the game from closer to goal than any playmaker since Zidane. He moves into space, he supports the ballcarrier by moving toward him when making a pass, he makes dummy runs, and he delivers a fantastic final ball. It's no coincidence that whenever Ozil is fit and firing, Arsenal go on a streak of results, and our struggles coincide with his injury struggles.

Cazorla is a better player than Coutinho, but doesn't get nearly the praise because Coutinho scores flashy goals. Cazorla's performance against Man City was a better 90 minute performance both offensively and defensively than I've seen Coutinho put together, but no one talks about it because Cazorla doesn't score highlight reel goals. Coutinho is closer to Cazorla's level than Ozil's to be quite honest, and from a production point of view, Cazorla has been the better buy.