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Arsenal: Mesut Ozil’s Agent Valiantly Wasting His Breath
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal nation was absolutely livid at Mesut Ozil yet again and this time, Ozil’s agent didn’t let it slide. But why is he wasting his time yelling into a void?
In case you missed it, Arsenal was Spartan kicked by Bayern Munich and the entire Gunnersphere seems to be at war with itself. However, there is one unifying factor right now, and that unifying factor is that everyone is disgusted at Mesut Ozil’s performance.
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So much so, that Ozil’s lawyer and agent, Dr. Erkut Sogut, spoke out, rather vehemently, about how his client is blameless. Take a look (this is rather long):
“Criticism is normal if a player plays badly,” he told BBC Sport. “But Mesut feels people are not focusing on his performance; they are using him as a scapegoat for the team after bad results.
“Bayern had 74% possession,” said Sogut, who is Ozil’s lawyer and representative. “How can someone in the No.10 position create chances if you don’t have the ball?
“In these games people usually target a player who cost a lot of money and earns a lot of money – that is Mesut. But he can’t be always be the scapegoat. That’s not fair.
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“Football is a team sport and Arsenal are not performing well as a team. Eleven players were on the pitch but Mesut was singled out for criticism. Was he the reason that Arsenal conceded five goals?
“It started before the match, throughout the week leading up to the game. People started discussing: ‘Should he play? Should he be dropped?’.
“It was as if everyone knew Arsenal would not make it through and we needed a scapegoat. This is not right. You win as a team and you lose as a team.”
“I don’t agree that Mesut has not had an impact on big matches,
“What about the win at home to Chelsea this season and Manchester United the year before? What about the games for Germany against Italy and France at Euro 2016?
“People are always saying Mesut is not fighting or tackling, that he has poor body language, but that is how he is.
“Believe me, he is desperate to succeed. If it doesn’t work, he shows his anger and expressions. Was his body language an issue when Arsenal were playing well?
“He is not someone who runs around aimlessly and tackles just so everyone thinks he is fighting. If it doesn’t make sense to run somewhere he will keep that power for the next run.
“I don’t think the criticism has affected his performance or his mental state.
“Mesut is committed to the club. There is no doubt that he will perform at 100%, with total professionalism and commitment as long as he plays for Arsenal. Nothing will change that.
“He is sorry to the fans, and he’s sorry that he and his team-mates couldn’t give the fans a better result in Munich.”
*Deep breath*
That is a lot for an agent to say to defend his client. And for the most part, he has a point. Ozil isn’t responsible for the complete and utter collapse of an entire team. But there are problems with his argument, as well as the huge overlying problem that is why he is even bothering.
Arsenal nation can be vicious. When they have a target in their sights (Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey) they don’t let up until that target shapes up, and shaping up is purely speculative. There are still people blaming Giroud and it wholly baffles me. I also wonder why Giroud’s agent never spoke up like this.
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Anyway, the other problems with Sogut’s logic – all of the positives that he is accentuating in Ozil’s game came at the beginning of the season when even Theo Walcott was performing. It’s not hard to find guys who thrive when the team is clicking.
It’s finding guys who can thrive and make a difference when the team is struggling that is the hard part. Alexis Sanchez is one of those guys. Mesut Ozil simply is not. And no, it is not asking too much of a No. 10 to make a difference with just that little bit of possession. That’s what he is paid to do – make a difference.
I have no doubts that Ozil is beat up over this too and maybe he isn’t a leader like we are expecting him to be, but when you are giving the ball away, making poor passes, and then throwing up your arms in disgust rather than chasing down what you have done, that is when problems develop. Even when you don’t touch the ball much, it’s what you do when you have the ball that needs to be talked about.
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And against Munich, Ozil did nothing when he had the ball. If you want to blame his team mates more than him, that’s fine, there is plenty of logic in that. But someone at some point has to step up or these team efforts will continue to happen.