Mikel Arteta has insisted that he did his best to get Mesut Ozil back to form before he axed the former Real Madrid midfielder from his team.
Ozil has been frozen out of the current Arsenal team after he wasn’t named in the registered squads for the Premier League and Europa League.
The German had been a key member of the team in the early days of Arteta’s reign.
However, he failed to improve on how he was under Unai Emery, and his failure to adapt to the demands of Mikel Arteta forced the former midfielder to axe him from his team.
Arsenal has faced some backlash from a few fans for the decision not to name him in the squads this season.
Arteta has had to answer questions on that decision and he recently told Sky Sports that he tried his best to get Ozil up to speed.
Arteta said as quoted by Sun Sports: “What I can tell you that I tried my best, I tried to give him as many opportunities as I could.
“And that from my own side, I’ve been patient, given him opportunities and been fair.
“He’s a player that belongs to a football club, he’s been a really important player in the last few seasons.
“I have to respect that, I’m here to make decisions, the best decisions for the team and for the club.
“This is what I try to do and then I have to explain them because people need the reasons and the right answers.
“I just give mine, whether they believe me or agree with me or not, there’s nothing I can do.
“But I have to put my decisions, with my heart and with my brain to make the right decisions that I believe are good.”
