Simply put, Mesut Ozil is not world class. That may well be a controversial comment to some of my fellow Gooners but for me, it is the truth.
A world-class player turns up consistently and can be relied upon when the going gets tough, we cannot say that about Ozil no matter how much we admire him.
Yes, on occasions he puts in a match-winning performance and he can even put in the odd world class display but so can Ainsley Maitland-Niles or Granit Xhaka and no one is calling them world class.
Ozil can be a game changer once in a blue moon but so can Aaron Ramsey or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in fact, I would argue that pair are more likely to change a game compared to the German playmaker.
Unai Emery does not trust Ozil, that is abundantly clear, and I no longer trust him either. I never know from one game to the next what sort of performance we will see from him and I hate to say this, but I am no longer surprised when he goes missing in important games, I kind of expect it now.
There was a time when he was our shining light but not now, not any more, he really has become a luxury that we cannot afford and is arguably no longer a luxury player but a liability.
These comments of mine are not coming from anger but from the acceptance that has finally dawned on me that our so-called jewel in the crown is more coal than diamond.
Darren N