As if the Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil didn’t have enough problems with the media in Germany after the World Cup, and now the English media are joining in and inventing stories about the highest-paid star at the Emirates. Nacho Monreal is the latest Gunner to defend Ozil. He said: “People have been a bit unfair with him. He is a very famous player and obviously people love talking about him. Recently, it is always bad things. Like last time, he was sick and that’s why he didn’t play.
“People started to invent that he had a problem with the manager. It wasn’t like that. He got a cold, he was sick, that’s it. That’s why he didn’t play.”
Ozil is constantly lambasted for his easy-going style and his languid body language, but Monreal says we should just accept that this is his personality and he can’t change that. “People must understand that every player is completely different,” Monreal said. “He is like that [quiet] and 10 years ago he was the same. So you can’t expect on the pitch that he starts to fight, to talk with the referee because he never did it. He is not going to change in this case.
“The important thing is he plays at his highest level, gives a lot of assists, scores a lot of goals and basically helps the team. That’s what he knows. He doesn’t know how to go up to a player and grab him by the throat.”
It is good to see our players defending Ozil, as the German himself rarely gets involved and tries to avoid the media as much as he can. That’s another reason people think he is aloof, but I think he is just averse to all the unwanted publicity.
What do you think?
Sam P