Jens Lehmann, blunt as ever! By SK
Former Arsenal great and Champions league hero, Jens Lehmann has come out to blast the trio of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi, for not giving their best to the Arsenal cause this season. He feels they let Wenger down and should also take part of the blame for a woeful Arsenal season.
Lehmann as reported by The Sun, is of the strong opinion that people should ease up a bit on Wenger and push some of the blames to the star players. According to him, Sanchez sulks a lot, Ozil is too soft, while Mustafi is not good enough.
“Being a good player is not just about dribbling and sulking when things don’t go on fine for you, you need to stand up and take responsibilities” he said concerning Sanchez. On Ozil, this is what he has to say: “ Ozil is too soft and at times you wonder if he is in a game”. What he said about Mustafi was not mild at all! Hear him: “it is not his fault if he is bought for 35 million pounds. He may be bought for that moment but he is not good enough. If he was good enough, why would he be playing in a defence and his team concedes 5 goals?” Lehmann wondered.
Well, everybody is entitled to his opinion but Lehmann got it wrong concerning Sanchez and Mustafi. Sanchez gives his all when playing for Arsenal, he sulks when things are not going fine for the club because he is a winner and winners are never happy when they are losing! Sulking may be a bad thing, especially if you are a big player but then, that is how he knows how to react. He is human after all and has the right to express disappointments in any way he likes. He should not be arrested for that, should he?
As for Mustafi, it was never his fault entirely that we conceded 5 goals home and away against Bayern Munich in the Champions league. The whole team should be held responsible for that. A man can’t make a forest. The midfielders had a serious role to play in the game but they failed in their duties, Arsenal had other defenders on the pitch that could have risen up to the occasion, but did they? I guess not. That Mustafi was bought for such a huge amount should not expose him to attacks whenever Arsenal performs badly. Mustafi will still do well at Arsenal.
As for Mesut Ozil, I don’t know what to say in his defence, or does anybody know how to defend him against Lehmann’s judgement?
Sylvester Kwentua