The Germany international team manager Joachim Low has admitted that he was disappointed with the manner of Mesut Ozil’s retirement from the Germany team, and also that the Arsenal midfielder hadn’t contacted him personally before his statement regarding his retirement.
“There was never any form of racism in the Germany team,” he said on ESPN. “His agent called me and informed about his retirement.
“Mesut did not call me, not to this very day. I tried to reach him several times in the past two weeks, via text message, via phone. Mesut has decided to take this path. I must accept it.
“Ozil has been my player for nine years. We’ve experienced a lot together. A few lows, but more highs. We’ve won the World Cup. This will still stay forever.
“I am still of the opinion that he was one of the best players we had in Germany in the last 20, 30 years. One day, we’ll have a conversation. I would have wished for him to inform me personally, and I was disappointed at first.”
“The issue cost us a lot of power, and nerves, because it was always there. But it was not decisive in our World Cup exit.”
It certainly wasn’t Ozil’s fault that Germany failed in Russia, but there is no doubt he was victimized by the German media and fans during and after the tournament. Low may be disappointed in Ozil’s reaction but how would he have felt if he had taken the abuse the Ozil had to put up with from the whole of Germany. I think Ozil has more right to feel disappointed that Low didn’t come to his defence….
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Whoever has ties to germany can see that mesut accusation are based on deflecting critisem and gaining financial favours by siding with Erdogan. Mesut was surely abused by some certain people which happens to every other player but one needs to look up for solutions to make it and not reasons to bail out from difficulties. He choose to bail out due of him being quiter and such behaviour i can also see him doing at arsenal without an end. Whenever we need him the most he hides and gets sick or goes into vacation. Unacceptable!
Wenger is not around anymore and Emery should go hard on him just like i expect him to do to every other player.
Unfortunately Özil is a player, who irritates a lot of people. He is a great footballer, when he is at his best, and that sets high expectations, so when he plays an average game, he disappoints. Also, his body language often gives a very depressing impression.
I think this leads too harsher judgement and more criticism than what is fair. I hope we get to see more of his best.
admin what on earth are you saying,the whole of germany abused him .this is not true,i live in germany and i did not notice any,he was chriticied yes just like a lot of arsenal fans are know.you are just like media blowing it up.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch John, und wo genau in Deutschland leben Sie?
ks gunner ja und wohne in lensahn ostholstein.itake it you live in ks hessen land
So your telling us that the majority of German people were not against that picture and then questioned his allegiance to Germany ..esp after the politics got involved. Your telling us he wasn’t singled out ahead of everyone even though he stayed seated for most of it. Politicians are not the type to go against a majority, they won’t stir something like that up unless they already have a pulse. Lets face it, Germany is not a country that most Africans will have high up on a to do list.
Why is everyone jumping on this bandwagon? He never once said that there was racism in the TEAM he was referring to the media and in particular to the offensive remarks by a senior German politician. He was also called a s**t player by Uli Hoeness who also said he was not fit to wear the German shirt. I notice that he didn’t criticise his own Bayern players such as Muller, Boateng, Kimmich and Hummels who were awful so what does that tell you?
I suppose that Ozil didn’t contact Low because he received zero support from him prior to his eventual retirement. It was only then that Low tried to make contact but I do think that he should have shown a bit of class and responded instead of staying silent. It’s not too late to pick up the phone and have a chat with someone who backed him as a player for over 8 years.
It’s time to put a lid on this now and concentrate on his Arsenal career because it’s all he’s got at the moment. I am convinced that if he listens to Emery’s advice he can regain the form he showed a couple of years ago and prove the doubters wrong.
@Andrew E-you were writing your post as I was writing mine and it goes without saying that I agree totally with what you say.
He was talking about Germany on the whole. That’s worse than a few Dijk heads in a team making a stupid slur. The fans, media, football federation, politicians, jeesh! that’s so much worse. Everyone seemed to have an opinion and the overall census ..stank. What that politician said was way over the top, Klopp hit him back nicely though and never a truer words.
Andrew E, like Phil said I couldn’t have communicated it better myself.
I do hope that Mesut Ozil talks to Joakim Low (I believe Ozil should have spoken to Low , as his long time coach before making the retirement announcement). Jurgen Klopp’s statement was appreciated as well.
Andrew E, really good summary of the situation and I just hope john hodges reads it through carefully.
Of course there was an underlying ripple of racism, just refer back to the remarks by Hoeness and ask the question why no other german player was selcted for such abuse?
The team were complete garbage in the world cup, not just one player.
One doesn’t have to live in a country to recognise that racism is alive and kicking there.
It’s down to Ozil now as to what the future holds, but I really hope that our fans realise the pressure that he must have been under during and after the world cup.
Let’s see if he performs for us up until January. If he does brilliant, if he doesn’t Emery, as he has already dhown, will manage the situation as he sees best.
That could result in him leaving for pastures new….The Arsenal will still be alive and functioning whatever the outcome.
Ken, please go back to older posts (The Ramsey article) for my reply to your post about the Tottenham double side.
kenny, got it mate and thanks for the reply.
Hoeness confirmed the fact that he is a low life member of the human race.
Agree with your statement (Since there is no like button anymore)
Spot on Andrew. That is exactly my thought. People misread completely what he said and keep criticizing him for it. He has my support everyday. I don’t think any player or man can handle all the abuse and criticism has he did.
I’m also with you on that Andrew, spot on post.
“I notice that he didn’t criticise his own Bayern players such as Muller, Boateng, Kimmich and Hummels who were awful so what does that tell you?”
I for once can tell that you are not fair here. Hummels and Boateng if you knew from the Bundesliga where carrying injuries. Moeller was a bench player and Kimmich was performing rlly well. And Yes, there is no chance of Mesut starting at Bayern. No one wanted him, therefore he stayed at Arsenal.
“I suppose that Ozil didn’t contact Low because he received zero support from him prior to his eventual retirement.”
Loew was being supportive by calling him up besides calls not to do so. He took also much flack for this decisions.
You are being an apologist here just like some other guys. Even though he is among st the best, doesn not mean that he deserves now a free pass on almost everything. Mesut is here bec Arsenal was till late a comfort zone, and for our own sake i hope that such times with Emery will come to an end.
So why were Hummels and Boateng selected if they were carrying injuries?
This was the world cup for heavens sake, so where is the critiscm of Low regarding his team selection?
Let alone picking a keeper who had not even proved his fitness after returning from injury.
Yet Ozil was the only one singled out for critiscm?
Why didn’t Low come out immediately Hoeness made his remarks and in the same forthright manner?
Something really stinks here and it certainly isn’t Ozil!
Nonsense.. It seems you never noticed that Ozil was not in the squad for Arsenal’s last Europa league match against Atleti, nor was he much active during the world cup. How blind can you be? Ozil was more injured than the names you mentioned and Low knew that and yet took him to Russia..only to lie low (pun intended) when Ozil took the flak. Base humanism.
What is this witch hunt on Mesut Ozil?It started I’m Germany before the World Cup even began where his meeting with Erdogan was interpreted out of all proportion in my view and the political outcry from his own footballing federation just made the headlines more damning for the player.In hindsight Ozil was probably wrong but was his meeting and photograph really as bad as is continually being made out?
He was dropped after the first game in the World Cup when clearly he was one of the better performers on the day.The whole German team were bad but it was Ozil who was made to pay for the defeat.In the final match he did as much as anyone in that team.He created good scoring opportunities that were missed but still it was only Ozil who was criticised by the media.
He was voted Germany’s best player for five out of six seasons leading up to the World Cup so for anyone to say Ozil is a quitter is just ridiculous.
It is Germany’s loss that he has now retired from international football and it will be Arsenal’s loss the day he leaves our Club.I would have thought that the fan base would be supporting the player even more bit it seems not.Ive said continually that Arsenal are a far better team when Mesut Ozil is in the side than what we are when he doesn’t play and nobody will convince me otherwise.
Totally agree with you Phil. I am a huge Ozil fan.
Another excellent article Phil, Ozil’s got my backing. It’s the relaxing way he plays the game that makes him a target, usually for people that don’t understand the game.
I understand the love some fans have for Ozil…he was the first big player that came to us during those awkward years when star players were leaving..he believed in arsenal and three fa cups followed and our trophy drought was broken the season he came….yeah I understand the love
But come on Arsenal fans..let’s face the truth….Ozil can’t play this high press system…and that’s where Emery is having problems with him…. You can’t force a snail to become a cheetah.. It is not possible……peopld like Phil Claim we should play to his strengths…what strengths has he shown as a creative 10….even his best season with the 19 assists he didn’t create Cleveland through passes…… I still say it and I would say it again…Cazorla was far better than Ozil when playing as a 10……….we need to thank Ozil for everything,shake hands with him and let him go…… We need a young creative 10….mislintat needs to do his work
There you go again mouthing off crap.
Could you please state the facts to back up your assertion that Cazorla was a better 10 than Ozil.
Let’s forget that Cazorla actually played as a deep lying playmaker and not a 10. But for the sake of argument. How many assists/goals did Cazorla produce in his best season and how many did Ozil produce in his best season?
There will ALWAYS be doubters of this great player!
Sod the lot of them I’d say
We missed him big time last week, so glad he’s back training… ? COYG
I didn’t like the way Gundagon waited and waited before speaking up on Ozil’s part. After Klopp came out and blasted people for celebrating him when we win but he’s an immigrant when we lose. Then Gundagon comes out and speaks up, even though he was in that picture that started it all.
I don’t blame Ozil for wanting to turn his back on it all, but if he had stayed and tried to prove himself again, I think that would be the best way to answer this sort of opinion. His character gets questioned allot, this might be a bit harsh considering, but quitting sort of falls in line with what people say about his fight and his spirit.
Break-on-through, some good points you make, but I believe it was, as the proverb quotes, the straw that broke the camels back.
I can’t begin to imagine the pressure he was under, being the only target of a failed national football team.
Remember they were the reigning world champions and who better to pour the nation’s scorn on than one man of Turkish origin?
Why should he have to prove anything after the acolades already laid at his feet?
Yeah I sort of get that, I don’t blame him and he probably shouldn’t have prove himself all over again. It’s just that he has so much talent that he could’ve went and done that if he had the desire to. But I get that this was very upsetting and unfair to take.
ken 1949,iwatched the wc with german friends and they were all complaining about the whole team,get your facts right and believe every thing what the papers in england write.
john hodges, i agree with you that one shouldn’t believe all that one reads in the papers.
However Hoeness was shown on television over here ACTUALLY SAYING the rubbish that we are talking about.
So are you telling us that this actually didn’t happen?
So Ozil wasn’t told he played s@@t and should never have played for Germany in the last five (?) years etc etc?
Name any of the failed German squad that actually came out and supported him in the same way that Hoeness lambasted him?
The facts are quite clear and the blaming of Ozil is still going on, so why are you trying to deny what everyone actually saw Hoeness saying?
PLEASE do reply, as I would love to know how you can deny this and it would really make for fantastic reading and debating. THANKS.
While I will not get involved in the political debate over Ozil, I will say this: I HAVE LONG THOUGHT HE HAS A DEPRESSION PROBLEM AND ALL THE HUMAN SIGNS POINT STRONGLY TO THIS. AS A FAN OF OUR CLUB OVER AND ABOVE ANY ONE PLAYER, UNLIKE SOME FANS, I ALWAYS PUT THE CLUBS INTEREST FIRST AND BEFORE THAT OF ANY PLAYER. Right now Ozil is not earning thr vast money he is being paid, nor has he earned even the “lesser” amount he was previously paid, more often than not. Now in his fifth season he has shown sublime talent but not regularly, and he often simply hides in games in Walcotts inimitable style. I can scarcely emembe the last game that we won because of his sublime talent; but it was some time ago for sure. To me, these are facts, not opinions; apart from my thinking he is clinically depressed which IS MY OPINION.I think it unwise to support him as a player ONLY BECAUSE he has been treated unkindly over his Turkish ancestry, which I state that he has been. I feel that the natural antipathy to racist cruelty on here, and elsewhere(which is laudable) has tended to cause some people to stick up for him as a player, despite his ineffectiveness of late. This is to confuse the issue, which, to Arsenal, is quite separate from political comment. We are unable to sell him and no one will take over his far too generous current wage and contract. Consequently, we are not getting value for money, nor have regularly done so for much of his stay. I much regret WENGERS DECISION TO AWARD THIS CONTRACT, WHICH WAS A HUGE MISTAKE, BUT WE ARE STUCK WITH IT. NOT TO PLAY HIM AT ALL, WHILE STILL HAVING TO PAY HIS HUGE WAGE WOULD BE TO HURT THE CLUB. SO A WAY SHOULD BE FOUND TO GET AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FROM HIM, EVEN IN HIS PRESENT MENTAL STATE. He is clearly mentally frail and needs very careful handling, lest he breaks down completely. He is not a bad person, clearly; in fact the opposite but I doubt we can ever get the value from him again that he showed in his several excellent, but sadly brief spells. A huge problem thrown on our new manager by the ex- manager but just one of many, IMO. Virtually all the others concern the long term lack of defensive coaching and bad defensive buys. We are now paying the predictable price for the crass failure to sack Wenger many years ago.
Jon, you are starting to worry me with your views that Wenger is/was/will always be the answer for any/all of our clubs problems.
This man that you take every opportunity to castigate left the club at the end of last season, following a fantastic response to his achievements by over 57,000 Gooners packed into the Emirates.
You frequently state that you have many different experiences in the field of commerce and yet maintain that our billionaire owner meekly handed complete control of his Arsenal investment to one man because “HE DEMANDED IT”.
This man then single handedly wreaked havoc in every area of the club, but the owner and board were too weak to intervene according to your thinking and of course the tens of thousands you continually refer to as agreeing with you.
Now on this post, we are discussing the situation that Mesut Ozil finds himself in and a really good debate is going on.
You have made the point regarding his fragility at the moment and how he is not earning his salary, whatever that might be.
Certainly valid and well constructed points that one expects from you when you address the issue.
Then, out of the blue, you climb back on your hobby horse and state Wenger is the problem as he and he alone gave him a new contract.
No imput from anyone else then Jon?
Kronkie wasn’t concerned about his money being spent in this way?
You always demand realism from others and yet expect us to accept this absurd example of one man’s dictatorship over another so much stronger both financially and with ownership of the club via shareholdings?
As much as I wish Kronkie wasn’t our club’s owner, one can only admire his business acumen.
That wasn’t achieved by standing passively by for years, while one man, according to you, wrecked his cash cow investment for the future was it?
Really? Honestly? No imput from anyone else?
No one daring to question this man who had failed in so many other areas according to you over the previous eight years?
Sorry, but that just doesn’t make sense to me.
Of course Wenger made mistakes and the last two years were painful to watch.
He’s paid the price and moved on as the club and supporters hopefully have.
That’s MY humble opinion Jon and I will now go back to the article and see if john hodges has answered my questions and also look forward to Emery starting to bring his vision and values into the club.
I don’t know why you keep trying to defend clearly recist comments from SOME ppl, politicians and others like honess and grindel. No one said all of Germany are resists. Ozil never said there is recism in the TEAM. But it is clear he and his family did receive it by probably hundreds of letters while the federation not only kept quite but practically grinder endorsed it. And if you don’t know how that feels you shouldn’t keep talking s$$t. And to keep playing while this is going on and adapt to a new system probably takes time. Low just said germany never had a player like him in 20-30 years. That says a lot about his quality. He didn’t change the way he played. He always played languid. And if we support players at times like this, we could probably get a passionate loyal player out of it!
yes he did say those things,that was his opinion like you have yours.and by the way i dont hoenes.also he attacks alot of people in german football some of it bad also some of it good.also he is a very good director of bayern football club.
dont like hoenes
So john, what is it that I have got wrong?
What was it that made you say “get your facts right”, implying that I had been misled.
What was it that the media in this country (can’t believe I’m defending them by the way) got wrong?
Do YOU think that Ozil has been hung out to dry by the country’spolitical and footballing community?
Do YOU think his treatment was/is totally unjust?
Do YOU think this might have affected him personally?
Do YOU think this has affected his footballing personna?
Over here, the majority of fans were completely behind his decision to quit the national team he choose to represent.
But because Hoeness is a “very good director of football” you justify his thinly veiled racist slurs?
Look forward to your replies john, as you have repeatedly defended the german reaction towards Ozil and I don’t understand why.
I think if it was gundogan that receive all this abuse,it wont have gain ground like this.i think the media purposely choose him bcos he is a well known class.long life to king ozil