Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil has been described as a ‘passenger’ by former Ireland international Kevin Kilbane after his dire performances in the the past week.
We succumbed to successive 2-1 defeats having led during the first half of each game this week, with our second-half performances gifting our opponents the points.
Kevin Kilbane has now moved to slam key player Mesut Ozil for his inability to fight for the ball in each of those losses, even describing him as a passenger.
He said: “Ozil was a total passenger in the second half.
“It was a same sort of performance than at Everton last Tuesday.
“In the second half they had no momentum, they were looking tired and without the ball they were very poor in the second half.”
He then praises their shape for the beginning of the match, before ripping into their frail second-half showing once again.
Kilbane added: “I think Arsenal were so good without the ball on Sunday.
“They had a really good shape to the side but they also carried a threat going forward.
“Those two in particular – Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil – were very good.
“The contrast was the second half. There was no real out ball for them and the shape of the side was quite poor.
“Sanchez was the one they were looking for but as soon as he gave the ball away, look at the players’ reactions.
“They’re static. There’s no reaction from players to get back goal-side.
“First half they started the game on the front foot and got right at City.
“They got the goal, had the luxury of sitting deep and had a threat going forward.
“Second half they sat off deep but they didn’t actually go and close City players down.”
Is Ozil tired and in need of a rest? Is he regularly failing to live up to his defensive duties?
Pat J