From some of the reports that have been seen from the English football media in the last couple of days, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Arsenal and Germany international star Mesut Ozil had phoned Arsene Wenger last week putting on a croaky voice and claimed to be dying, only to sneak off to Berlin and get absolutely blind drunk and into a fight in a nightclub.
Arsene Wenger and the club have not spoken up about the situation, probably because they feel there is nothing to talk about. As a more rational and less sensational report by The Guardian explains, our record signing was released from the matchday squad for the trip to Newcastle because of illness, but the boss was well aware that Ozil´s condition was pretty mild.
After the German started the last 12 games in a row, putting in lots of effort and playing well for us, Wenger was probably happy to give Ozil a little rest, especially with Aaron Ramsey and Tomas Rosicky available again. The media seem desperate for Ozil to be in big trouble when he gets back to London but as long as he comes back fit and healthy, I doubt that anyone will have much to say to him about going to a nightclub.
He does not drink alcohol after all and it is surely his own business what he does with his spare time. If the Germany coach Joachim Low wants to drop him for their friendly against Australia on Wednesday or their Euro qualifier in Georgia, which he won´t, then Arsenal will not care a jot and would probably be happy for our player to get a bit more of a break.
Is there too much focus on what players do in their spare time as long as they are not breaking the law?