The Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that Mesut Ozil has been getting over criticized.
Ozil was the most expensive signing ever for Arsenal the previous season as he was bought at a mind boggling transfer fee of 42.5 million Pounds from the Spanish club Real Madrid. He started fine for the Gunners, but, as the 2013-14 Season progressed, he faded and in the ongoing season, he has looked totally mediocre.
The playmaker deserves some criticism for that, no doubt, but, he is surely not the only reason of Arsenal’s clumsy form this season and that’s what Wenger was also trying to convey in his interview yesterday.
According to the man in charge at Emirates, some people are trying to make Ozil the scapegoat which is not right.
In the words of Wenger, “I can’t understand why so much of criticism is happening especially of Ozil. The guy hasn’t been that poor and we, as a team, have also not lost too many matches. There has just been one loss in the last 6 months.”
“I think we have shown a lot of grit. Those two matches versus Besiktas in Europe were so close and we got through eventually. So, it’s not that we haven’t played good football at all. The football betting markets even suggested we were underdogs against Besiktas.”
“These days, people tend to pass their judgement on the basis of one match. They are very quick to say ‘this guy should be dropped’. It should not be like that. Everyone has off days; it’s the nature of sports.”
Arsenal has been stopped on draw by weaker sides a couple of times this season. In August, they first played a 2-2 draw against Everton and then, they played a 1-1 draw against Leicester City.
The only game that the Gunners have won this season was against Crystal Palace. They won it by 2-1.