Sep 05, 2013 03:20 AM EDT
Mesut Ozil is Not Like Dennis Bergkamp and Arsenal are a Striker Short, According to Former Manager Bruce Rioch

Former Arsenal manager Bruce Rioch does not believe Mesut Ozil should be compared to Dennis Bergkamp as the two are completely different players.

Ozil was brought in from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day for a club record £42.5 million ($66.3 million), leading to comparisons with Bergkamp's record-breaking arrival in 1995.

While the comparisons between the two players have been more on the manner of the transfer and the stature behind those moves, Rioch said the two should not be compared as players, as Bergkamp had much more goals in him than Ozil.

"He (Ozil) is a very talented player and I think he suits the style that Arsenal have at this time," Rioch, who was the manager when Bergkamp joined Arsenal, told Sky Sports News Radio. "He's what I would call a silky player, but he's more of a creator than a goalscorer.

"To compare him to Dennis Bergkamp would be wrong because Dennis was a goalscorer as well as a creator, but it's a huge signing.

"He's a one in six goalscorer but he is a creator. He's very silky, very clever on the ball and has a high ratio of assists, that's what he brings to the club.

"But you've got to have goalscorers and that's the key for Arsenal. For what he (Ozil) creates, can they finish?"

Rioch, though, does believe Ozil will make a huge impact at Arsenal. "He's a good age," Rioch added. "He's coming up to the peak of his career, and I think he'll settle in quite quickly because he's got two German colleagues at the club in (Per) Mertesacker and (Lukas) Podolski.

"He's going to an outstanding club, and they're a good football team. They've had a lot of criticism with not going into the transfer market but they've started the season well.

"They've got a lot of creative players in the side and they've got a lot of pace in key areas. If you've got a passer who can see the runners then you've got a chance, and Ozil is a good player.

"He's exciting in possession, and whenever I've watched him on the TV for Real Madrid I've enjoyed watching him. He's one of those players that you'd want to have in your team rather than play against."

The former manager, however, feels Arsenal are short of a potent striker, someone who will put away all the chances that Ozil is bound to create.

"They're definitely a top-four team," Rioch said. "If they had Thierry Henry or Ian Wright in their team I'd say they'd be a top-two team, but it's the goals.

"You've got to be scoring around 80 goals a season on a regular basis and I just wonder whether they've got enough strikers at the club to score those goals.

"You look at the midfield, there's some good players there, and they've added a very, very good player. He will make the team better. It's whether they've got the ammunition and the goals to go into the top two."

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