There is no player that divides Arsenal fans more than our very expensive German midfielder Mesut Ozil, and he is back in the spotlight again after not even making Mikel Arteta’s squad to face Man City on Wednesday.
Our Spanish boss had also admitted that he didn’t think David Luiz was in a good place before the game, but the Brazilian was at least included and Arteta was forced to bring him on to replace the injured Mari, and we know how that went!
But Ozil was nowhere to be seen at all, and Arteta had no choice but to face the questions from journalists about his omission ahead of tomorrows game at Brighton. “I have been very open with Mesut from day one,” Arteta told the Independent.
“Since I joined I thought that he was fit and he was willing and he wanted to perform at the level he can do.
“He has played every game with me I think. So that it is. The moment I see that he is ready again to do that, I will treat him like anybody else.
“I think I have been more than fair with him and I think he has responded in many games the way I want. That’s it.
“A lot has happened to him in the last few weeks and I have to respect the timing of every player that needs sometimes a little bit of time.
“It has been difficult preparation the last two months to get players ready, and again I am the first one that wants Mesut at the best and I want to put him on the best when he can give his best.”
I’mnot sure what Arteta means when he says “a lot has happened to him in the last few weeks”, but the implication is that Ozil is nowhere near the fitness required to play any game time, never mind a whole 90 minutes. Are we going to see the same thing that happened under Emery, with Ozil being left out in the cold and the boss having to face endless questions about the reasons why?
I sincerely hope not, it was bad for morale the first time around, and we need everyone’s heads to be in a good place right now…