Arsene Wenger has been told he needs to be tougher on Mesut Ozil, with the German seemingly given an easy ride.
The German international is regularly singled out for criticism by fans, with the 28 year-old putting in a number of lazy performances despite being one of the best players in the Premier League.
Thierry Henry has now claimed that he needs to be given a tougher time from his fellow players and staff, with Wenger refusing to take him from the field despite his performance.
‘He doesn’t’ take Mesut off when Mesut isn’t on his game and that can happen,’ Henry told Sky Sports. ‘It shouldn’t happen the amount of times it does happens but Mourinho wouldn’t hesitate.
‘Conte wouldn’t hesitate. It happened a couple of times with Eden Hazard last year.
‘What happened? The three times he took Eden Hazard off after an hour – the game after he scored from the halfway line [against Arsenal].
‘He destroyed Arsenal because he woke him up.
‘We always focus on Ozil because he’s a brilliant player on his day. We had players like that in my team.
‘If Arsene doesn’t do it and have a go then I would go back again. I’m not trying to find excuses for Arsene but if you’re not tracking back I’ll tell you or grab you.
‘Some players went further than that but players will react in the second half to that sort of thing.’
The fans are quick to see how badly the playmaker is playing at times, and without enough impetus, so why can’t Wenger act on that? Is the manager blinded to it? Or is Wenger simply not brave enough?
Pat J