Arsenal: Mesut Ozil might want to control agent

Mesut Ozil’s agent, Dr. Erkut Sogut, has ripped into Martin Keown for his comments on the Arsenal midfielder. While the rant is thoroughly wonderful to read, Ozil may want to control him a little in the future.

849 words. That is how much of the English language Dr Erkut Sogut, agent to Arsenal midfielder and oft-criticised creator Mesut Ozil, needed to utterly tear apart the very fabric of Martin Keown’s being.

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It is an astonishing rant. You can read it in full here thanks to Goal, and I certainly recommend that you do. You will not be disappointed. There are few things better than hearing or reading someone who has clearly lost it, ranting and raving out of a state of utter rage. But Sogut does actually make some valid points.

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Keown does tend to single out Ozil for criticism, sometimes when it is not totally vindicated or deserved. He has distanced himself from the current regime, though that is absolutely his right seeing as he is a pundit and it is his job to have an opinion, irrespective of whether that opinion is a positive one or not. He did at least insinuate an element of mental health problems, which is obviously unacceptable — I do not think that Keown was singling out mental health problems, but it was certainly a poor choice of words.

That said, Sogut’s comments are equally as unfair. To diminish Keown’s career is disrespectful of one of the greatest servants of this club. He questions his football acumen, which seems a little foolish given the vast success of his playing career, his experiences, and his largely insightful punditry. He makes several accusations that not only are unfounded but out of order — he calls him jealous, a small name, desperate to remain relevant.

The two stances, though, aren’t binary. It is not a case of standing by Keown’s comments and thereby hating Ozil. The German should not be exempt from criticism, and some of what Keown highlights has been a pertinent and valid issue of his for many years. And you can also hold that Ozil is still a valuable, important piece of this team that is, as Jermaine Jenas suggested, not supported aptly by those around him. The two are not mutually exclusive.

In the end, the man that this all casts a bad light on is Ozil. He does not stand up for himself, but rather allows his agent to do it for him, and then he proceeds to miss the next two games with a mysterious back injury, seemingly supporting Keown’s harsh but potentially accurate assertion. Ozil may well have a genuine back injury. I do not know. But it’s hard to genuinely say that he is totally committed to the club.

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In the future, it may be wise for Ozil to keep a tighter leash on his agent. Laying into former players, pundits and key figures in the game is not the best way to endear yourself to your teammates, your manager, your fans, and others in the sport. Ozil needs to control him because this is not a nice situation for anyone.