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