Defending Mesut Ozil: Why Critics Should Get Off The Arsenal Playmaker's Back

Football fans can be so, so fickle. Following Arsenal's 2-0 win over Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday night, many were critical of Mesut Ozil's first half performance in which he missed a penalty (a German missing a penalty?).

In the second half he was excellent, however, providing the assist for Jack Wilshere's second goal effectively sealing all three points against an abysmal Marseille. But it was the first half penalty miss that was under most scrutiny and there were some who were saying it was another lacklustre performance after some unconvincing showings from the German.

Crisis! £42m wasted! Nonsense, I say. Ozil is a world class player and just because he is not making three assists per game it doesn't mean he is no longer world class. Are Arsenal losing with him in the side? Absolutely not as they are top of the Premier League and, for those who love stats, he has scored three goals and provided six assists. Hardly terrible, eh?

Nobody should have to write a blog post/article to defend Ozil's quality but this is a strange world we live in and people are, unfortunately, far too cynical. There are many factors that have to be taken into account; he is still relatively new to the club and therefore is still bedding in having not had a full pre-season with his team-mates.

Also, he is in a new country which means new surroundings which takes time to adjust to. Ozil hasn't hit his peak yet for Arsenal but when he does start to fire on all cylinders they will be a very difficult team to play against.

In the meantime take a look at this bloody good video from the excellent Culann Davies (have a look at his channel). Enjoy.

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