Lost and lazy Ozil might have cost Arsenal £42.5m but he isnt worth two-bob... and hes nicking a living At £42.5m Mesut Ozil is the most expensive export in the history of German football. After his performance in Munich you wouldn’t pay two-bob for him. There should be something special about returning to the country where it all started for the Arsenal midfielder. Behind those eyes something is going on with Ozil because he is simply not right The Germany midfielder suffered a hamstring injury in the Allianz Arena and looks sure to miss a series of crucial Barclays Premier League matches, starting with Sunday’s north London derby against Tottenham. He was treated by Bayern and Germany doctor Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt at the break and will have a scan on Wednesday. Ozil was replaced by Tomas Rosicky at half-time and Wenger said: ‘He’s out for a few weeks. It is a hamstring injury and it looks quite serious. I don’t know how long and we hope it’s not so bad.’ In the half that he was on the pitch, Ozil had just 21 touches of the ball. To put that into some kind of perspective Thiago Alcantara, operating in the heartbeat of Bayern’s midfield, had 66. Want more? Bastian Schweinsteiger: 47. Arjen Robben 33. Franck Ribery 33. Ozil, the highest-paid player in the history of Arsenal, is nicking a living. In the Allianz Arena, against the world’s best club side, he had a face on him like a slapped backside until he was substituted at the break. He was lucky to get to half-time. We have been here before with him, notably at Manchester City, when Arsenal lost 6-3, and again in the 5-1 defeat at Liverpool. So what if he scored the first of four goals in an FA Cup quarter-final at home to Everton at the weekend? That’s a sticking plaster. There is a wider issue here and it is down to Wenger to find out what is going wrong with one of the most talented players in the game. The exuberance has gone, deserting him at a time when his team-mates are looking to the former Real Madrid midfielder for inspiration. His time at the Bernabeu has gone and he can look wistfully at the team who beat Schalke 6-1 at the same stage of this competition all he likes. The days when he drifted in and out of games with Real are behind him. Now he just looks like a lost soul, lazy and disinterested. A week ago, in the Stuttgart Stadion, Germany’s fans were on his back during their victory over Chile in a friendly. He had set up the only goal for Mario Gotze, who started this game for Bayern Munich, but it still wasn’t enough to appease them. Three weeks ago in London, it was all too much for him after he had missed the chance to put Arsenal ahead from the penalty spot. It was there that his great friend Manuel Neuer saved his spot-kick and after Ozil’s game simply fell apart. He is better than that. This was another limp contribution, a player simply going through the motions as Arsenal inevitably went out of the Champions League in the second round. Stationed on the right, where he often plays for the national team, his first and only meaningful contribution was a corner in the 31st minute that was met by the head of Olivier Giroud. Neuer did well to save. After this, it is down to Wenger to rescue him.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 16:54:31 +0000
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