It’s not Ozil’s fault that Arsenal are failing!

Dietmar Hamann got it wrong on Ozil By Sylvester Kwentua

The ex-Liverpool star has come out to add his own opinion concerning Ozil’s impact as an arsenal player and I feel he got it all wrong! Dietmar Hamann has insisted that he never bought into the hype surrounding Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil as the Germany international has struggled to reverse the north London club’s ailing fortunes in the Champions League and the Premier League since his big-money move.

Indeed, Arsenal signed the World Cup winner in a club-record £42.5m deal from La Liga giants Real Madrid in the 2013 summer transfer window. Ozil has scored 29 times in 144 games in all competitions during a three-and-a-half year stay at the Emirates Stadium but has only won two FA Cups during that time.

Writing in his Paddy Power column about his compatriot Ozil, ex-Liverpool midfielder Hamann pointed out Real Madrid had their reasons for allowing the German playmaker to leave the club. “I never believed the hype about Mesut Ozil, but he shouldn’t be treated as a scapegoat either. The bottom line with Arsenal is they’ve got some players who play in September, October and November but don’t turn up in February and March. That’s when it matters. There’s a reason Real Madrid sold Ozil,” Hamann said.

Hamann may be in the right position to talk about making positive contributions in a big team, as he won several trophies while at Liverpool but indirectly calling Ozil an half a season player is not what professional courtesy is about. I will not argue with the fact that Ozil’s impact has not really been felt as an Arsenal player but I will also boldly argue that Arsenal’s several failed title challenge, was not totally his fault! It takes a team’s effort to win a competition and if the other players cannot up their game to a winner’s standard, then they should share a part of the blame. Ozil has won several trophies too in all the clubs he has played in and he is a world cup winner with the German national team.

Ozil flourishes when he plays with people who are either stars in their own rights or who have a winning mentality. Please, let us stop looking for a scape-goat and start working as a team to better our season because I still strongly believe our season can still end on a high. Yes we can!