Arsenal: What does anyone actually know about Mesut Ozil?

Arsenal maestro Mesut Ozil is being called some pretty negative things, but what do any of these talking heads actually know?

Arsenal suddenly have another font of drama in Mesut Ozil. But none of it is his fault. Moreso, it’s the fault of the secretive man that he is. There is no harm in that. That’s just who he is. But given the nature of the media and the attention cravers out there, it was bound to be a problem at some point.

Like now.

Far too many people are throwing names at Ozil, but what do they actually know? He is a quiet man, he does not speak openly about things. But given his character, you cannot question where his heart is. This is a guy who donated his entire World Cup 2014 earnings to a children’s hospital in Brazil.

And four years later, people are calling him a coward? Saying that he should have manned up and said something about the overt racism and hatred being thrown his way? Get real. Ozil is not that kind of person. He never has been.

As an Arsenal fan, I’ve been frustrated with him at times. I mean, the guy literally disappeared the morning before the Burnley match at Turf Moor and left everyone, including Arsene Wenger, baffled. He said nothing about it.

Is that frustrating? Absolutely it is. And I wish he would say something, tell us if there is a problem, open up a bit.

But that isn’t who he is. The same way that we accept who he is on the pitch and concede that there are certain things he will never be, we have to accept who he is off the pitch and concede that there are certain things he will never be.

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That’s what the reality is and if it isn’t going to change, then these people running around throwing playground names at him are just in it for the attention themselves.

What do any of these people actually know about Ozil? Probably no more than you or I. We know his character, we know his heart. We know he can get frustrated and down. But to speculate beyond that. To call him a coward, to call him weak or spineless or anything like that – it’s all pure speculation.

I will say this much though – Ozil is not a coward. He did not like the way he was being treated by fans he had done so much for, he realized that the next World Cup would see him at 33 years old, and he allowed that to drive his decision.

He didn’t ‘run away’ from anything. He put it behind him. Rather than confront a criticism, which isn’t part of who he is, he set it aside and moved on. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. It’s his way of handling a situation. It doesn’t make him a coward.

It’s a shame that this debate is even happening. It just goes to show how fleeting glory in sports is. Ozil was the German prince four years ago, and now he is ousted and pointed at like a career flop.

Withhold judgement until you know everything. And if you can never know everything, which most of us can’t, then make decisions based on what you do know, without allowing yourself to fill in gaps whichever way you see fit.