Does poor Mesut Ozil deserve all the flak he’s getting?

Poor Mesut Ozil! He gets criticized by Arsenal fans all year for taking the odd weekend off when he doesn’t feel like it, and when he does turn up he gets slated for strolling around the pitch and looking lazy.

Now (after missing Arsenal’s last three games) the midfielder turns up to play for Germany at the World Cup, gets booed by the fans for having his picture taken with the despot Turkish leader, then looks lazy in training, claiming injuries.

But after getting back to fitness, he actually gets picked for the German’s opening game and then gets blamed for not stopping the Mexicans’ getting the only goal of the match as the reigning Champions get beat!

Ah well, at least Gary Neville likes him, although he thinks he prefers to play for the national team than Arsenal. “I’m actually a massive fan of him,” Neville said.

“He’s just got so much quality on the ball.

“I think he enjoys playing for Germany more than he does for Arsenal. He’s in a better team around better players.

“He’s an easy target, Mesut Ozil, because of the way he plays, his style.

“Sometimes he appears that he’s not working as hard as his team-mates but he’s got undoubted quality.

“He is their key man, he plays in that central position.

“Sometimes at Arsenal they shove him on the left or the right, but for Germany he’s the focal point.

“He’s the one that they look to to thread the passes to (Thomas) Muller, to (Timo) Werner.”

I don’t think he’s going to prefer playing for Germany after this tournament unless thinks take a big turn for the better, but I bet there is one thing he prefers about Arsenal. That wage packet every week!

Darren N

52 Comments

  1. Germany’s defense was not good today, and were exposed every counter. Doesn’t really come down to Ozil. We know for a fact that isn’t really his responsibility in the German squad. Low has to figure out how to improve the team defensively because it didn’t work today. Ozil was fine today, not great, not bad. Germans created a lot of good chances, and some were just unlucky and some were bad misses. Worst thing they can do is start blaming each other. Ozil getting blamed is a symptom of his Arsenal reputation, which I think there is a lot of truth in, but no way should he get blame today. Germany just need to play better next time. They are more than good enough.

    1. He didn’t do much today

      Those “chances” he created were just too predictable or too obvious for his opponents

        1. After seeing how slow Xhaka and Ozil was today and how bad Xhakas positioning was I’m worried!
          We were linked with forsberg and Golovin last year I I thought both have pace and quick decision making so I was happy bcoz arsenal need more speed in there play but now it’s only Torreira that can inject some quick play so far coz Lacazette is slow to turn Xhaka is slow to turn ozil is slow to turn and wilshere is slow but he’s off anyway! I’m not really sure what Emery is gonna do but I hope he realises quickly that arsenal lack a lot of basic qualities! When Man City probably RIP us on the first day it could help us in the long run!

    2. Germany’s problem against mexico is a similar problem arsenal has, they didn’t have a sitting defensive midfielder to block the passing spaces, tackle or intercept when mexico were breaking on the counter. There midfield was also empty when khedira and kroos pushed up, it makes them weak against the counter and controlling of the game as they couldn’t recover the ball more. I remember zidane coming to madrid and benching james rodrigues for casmeiro to play with modric and kroos for a better balance in midfield and the rest is history. Khedira need to be more disciplined or replaced, he was basically doing a ramsey in that game, its being so long i saw so many counter attacks.

      1. Khedira used to have more legs. He was so slow today, and wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dropped next game. I’ve seen Ozil getting more heat than him strangely. Hummels also very ill-disciplined today. Went forward at bad times. I still think Germany were decent, but they have problems to sort out unlike last world cup where they looked perfect throughout almost the whole competition.

  2. Ozil lacks one thing that all great players have. He lacks “balls.” Also known as Walcott’s disease.

    1. Jon that’s funny. I get your disdain for Walcott, I’m not fond of Ramsey in much the same way.

      I’d rather see AMN play midfield over Ramsey; faster, technically better, and willing to defend not grow roots in opposition 18 yard box.

      Just as others are rough on Ozil, i guess everyone has a whipping post.

      1. Look at all Arsenal’s starting CM’s and analyse them carefully.You’d really see who AMN should be starting over.

      2. Durand, For me it is not about favourites and those I loathe. I just write what I see and what I think and I had been actively trying to get WALCOTT OUT OF OUR CLUB FOR VIRTUALLY ALL HIS TIME HERE, AS HE WAS AND IS BONE IDLE. I see the very same in Ozil, MOST of the time, even though he has sublime talent when he CHOOSES to use it. IT IS NOT PERSONAL BUT MY THINKING GOES THAT ALL TOP PREM PLAYERS ARE OBSCENELY OVERPAID AND ALL OF THEM OWE IT BODY AND SOUL TO TRY 100% EVERY MOMENT THEY ARE ON THE PITCH. Otherwise they are cheating us overcharged , hard pressed fans. Fans, everywhere are what keeps football alive. Players and managers come and go and clubs survive. But take away fans and the club is dead. So we are the lifeblood of football and it is wrong that obscenely rich players who have our adulation should EVER be cheating us and the clubs we adore. I don’t mind at all you finding my post above funny. But I was deadly serious and mean every word.

  3. Just compare the statistics of Ozil with other players of Germany against Mexico to see the reality , People are blaming Ozil while he was Germany’s best player , and praising Kroos who was awful and his passing mistakes was the starter for many of mexico’s counter attacks , but media’s bias doesn’t allow them to see the truth.

    1. I concur,some people just prefer to shout goaaaaal when they see the ball at the back of the net, they didn’t seem to understand the technical aspects of the game

      1. That’s right … Worry is that emery blathering on about Ramsey suggests that might be true of him .. Hope not

  4. Thread the passes to Muller and Werner? He was surrounded by top German attackers today, yet the motivation is not there

    He has nice ideas, but he lacks the technical abilities to take on the defenders and to hold the ball, hence he often gets robbed

    He will be 30 in this year and he is not getting any quicker, hence I hope he shows a bit of creative sparks that could interest the other big clubs, before the next season starts. If he is really that good, Bayern Muenchen would have bought him

    1. I think Ozil is a very good player and world class at his best.Having said that, I was in the few minority who wished we could’ve sold Sanchez before the season begun and Ozil in January because I could see us giving him a salary he didn’t deserve.Now look at the situation we are in.I wanted a different kind of No. 10 like the Santi Cazorla or James Rodriguez type.I don’t want it to always be passing passing passing.Its annoying.

    2. Muller was useless today. He’s not technically a good player honestly. He’s just an amazing poacher.

  5. In my opinion the worst players for Germany today were Kimmich,Kroos,Khedira and Muller.Kroos and Khedira were non existent.Terrible performance from them.How was Ozil left to be the one defending Lozano?Laughable.Imagine David Silva or De Bruyne in that situation.Was Ozil good?No.Should he be blamed for the loss?Absolutely not.But my word Germany were so bad.Mexico’s finishing and decision making were even worse.One of the worst I’ve seen in a while.

    1. Germany was crap.Even draxler looked average today.They might be eliminated in group stage

      1. Are we still waiting for Bernd leno coz I saw somewhere that Roma might snatch him from us after allowing Alisson to move to R. Madrid

    2. Kimmich was the reason they lost. He is regarded as the successor to Lahm but the defensive qualities he had kimmich doesn’t posses any of those. He’s attacking runs had made easier for Mexico to bombard attack from right flank. Same for Sami Khedira Kroos went too much forward leaving all defensive work on Sami Khedira in which he failed miserably .Im quite sure their weakness in both departments have been spotted and teams have taken a liking to that. That’s why you can spot a series of poor performances by Germany even when Ozil wasn’t playing. It’s not Ozil for God sake. Btw i was impressed with xhaka tonight especially his defensive work. Stephen looked like real gem of a leader shouting and directing the whole game. That’s what we were missing here at arsenal.

  6. Ozils style males him look like he’s lazy but that’s not the case, he covers so much ground each game & yes his defending isn’t up to scratch but why is at the RB position covering when he’s a counter attacking offensive player able to unlock any defence when he’s on song.

    His excuses of being sick, not playing games etc… is really annoying for Arsenal but he must have something in his contract that lets him do that especially as he’s our key man & best paid player in clubs history & present!

    Put him around a solid team & he will shine as he was the best no10 in the world for a reason! We have the strikers for Mesut now, solid CDM in Torreira coming, new GK/CB with a new winger the man will do his magic again as he’s covered from the defensive side if things & gets to express himself.

    New manager so new tactics & new players so we have to give Mesut, Xhaka & Bellerin all a new slate under new management.

  7. I don’t think Ozil gives a fig what failed manager/ coach turned football pundit Neville says!!
    Let’s see what happens in Emerys new look Arsenal and get off his back!!

  8. He def not poor on 350,000 a week so can just carry on being a luxury player who just turns up in games when he fancies it never does against teams in top 4 don’t remember him ever running the show in the big games always goes missing big mistake giving him that new contract!!

  9. Really people…are we going to bash ozil for Germany’s poor performance?…b’cus in the game I watched he was actually one of their better performance(if they had any). The whole team was awful… especially in central midfield where they had a certain khedira….Toni kroos didnt even do better. They were sliced open and with every counter the Mexicans who deserves much respect looked like scoring. Pls lay of the hate..
    On a much better note…our swis guys turned up today

  10. Ozil gets criticised more than others because he is meant to be the star player for club, and country. He seems to perform better for Germany (although not today), but for Arsenal, he regularly goes missing in the big games, hence the criticism. On top of that, he’s paid over 300k p/w, so the obviously there will be more of a focus on what he is, or isn’t doing.

    To be fair, Ozil was actually one of the better performers in the German side. He is obviously a good player, it’s just a shame we rarely see him perform well for Arsenal.

  11. I thought the whole team were poor, not what I was expecting from the defending champions…
    My husband said they get better as the tournament goes on, we shall see.
    Been some strange results so far!

  12. A great days football today. Entertaining and amusing to see the big boys ( who were expecting to have walk overs) get punished. It looks like this is going to be a really good World Cup.

  13. I am an Ozil hater

    I thought the German team was not in their rhythm and plus the old legs of Khedira could not manage the early pace of Mexico, who kept going down the right side of German, a DM was not in existence. Many will attack Ozil, but in truth he was not that bad, actually initiated a lot of Germany attacks.

    Many are going to be looking at Ozil, but should be looking at Kimmich who was always too far up in attack and also why the Heck SANE not in this german squad this is INSANE, picking a Draxler or a Brandt who have done less than Sane this season is really a CRUEL ACT.

  14. Ozil was one of Germany’s better players on the day without doubt.I know that’s not saying much but he put in a good shift and was the ONLY player to create anything.I just can’t believe the criticism he gets.Its as though everyone is just waiting to stick the boot in on the player.Germany were bad today.How many times have Arsenal performed like that and still Ozil gets criticised?We have a talent in this player.Thankfully we have a new coach who will get more from Ozil than Wenger did.I wouldn’t mind betting Germany look to change Manager if they continue to perform like this.
    Just how did Joachim Low leave Leroy Sane out of this squad?If ever a team needed pace it is this one.

    1. You’re right, that’s exactly as I see it. There were at least 7 or 8 German players worse than Ozil, Khedira, Kroos, Mueller, Kimmich, Draxler, Werner, and especially Boateng were all rubbish. Cesc Fabregas made a really telling comment about how a playmaker’s job is impossible if forwards don’t make runs, which is exactly what happened. Lastly, I’m not bothered about Phil Neville’s comment about Ozil which was probably true but his brother Gary’s comment was stupid. The fact that he was the only German player in the box tells it’s own story, where were Boateng and Hummels?

      1. Ozil was far from Germany’s worst player. The finishing by the German forwards was abysmal in this match; Ozil did create some opportunities but the control in the box and shooting were poor.

    2. @PHIL
      i wonder what game you were watching.Ozil was crap.And it wasn’t Wenger’s fault ……agree about Sané though….

      1. @Pires-You use the word “crap as though it something you have just unloaded into your nappy.Ozil was far from crap.He was one of the few German players who at least had a game that was difficult to criticise.This is a German side with little or no pace up front.A German side that has too many players that are perhaps starting to be found wanting at international level.A German side that seemed too over-confident against a side that seemed determined and with a quite obvious game plan.To say what you have just said about Ozil once again shows what a Child you really are and just how little you understand about football

  15. Ozil still played better today than he does for us usually.

    Overall he plays better for Germany than for us.

    I would suggest getting another CAM to put pressure on him to improve or a quality winger who can also play central attacking midfielder maybe German to make Ozil more at home

      1. They created a ton of opportunities. Mexico were putting in some great tackles and had a lot of determination. To say germany were bad I think is false. Certainly not near their best but they were better than France was who just looked dismal. That said, Mexico could’ve had 2-3 goals if they had better finishers. In terms of stopping counters and recovering the ball quickly they were terrible and they deserved the result that got. Still wouldn’t call them terrible

        1. Give credit to Australia; they made France look bad. People forget there are two teams on the field; do they expect at this level players will just give in, because the opposition is ranked higher? There is such a thing as professional pride.

  16. Admin, please post about our swiss duo lichsteiner & xhaka, esp the former who kept the brazillian left side quiet throughout the game

    1. What game was you watching our new veteran right back was given a proper roasting down his side it didn’t help that he got little protection from the stoke guy in front of him and was often exposed but even so didn’t impress me and had to go off with cramp how will he deal with the pace of prem league just another poor signing cos he was free shows the ambition of arsenal absoulutely pathetic!!

  17. so does everyone thinks the German players are crap and deadwoods now after a poor performance?

    1. John-it was a very dis-jointed performance from Germany.It seemed as though they completely underestimated Mexico(and how good did Carlos Vela look) and paid the price for their complacency.But you know the Germans.They will still get it right against Sweeden as they always find a way to produce when it matters.But to me they lacked movement and pace up front.My understanding is they left Leroy Sane out of the squad because of his attitude and arrogance.But surely that is where the Manager should be taking responsibility for his youth.Sane would no doubt have made a difference if he played and that is down to Low to justify his exclusion.
      I’m still amazed at the negative comments surrounding Ozil.He was one of only a few that did not perform badly.But with little or no movement in front of him he did not have much to work with

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors