The Sunday Supplement panel give their opinions on the 31-year-old's struggles
Sunday 27 October 2019 19:49, UK
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has played just 71 minutes of Premier League football this season, with Unai Emery saying the decision to drop him was a club one.
The 31-year-old earns £350,000-per-week at the Emirates, but finds himself frozen out under Emery and it appears that he has no future in north London.
The Sunday Supplement panel discuss what has gone wrong for the German midfielder, who missed the Gunners' 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, and what the future may hold.
"He [Emery] doesn't fancy him. That's obvious now. He feels he doesn't add anything to his team," Charlie Wyett, Football Editor at The Sun said.
"We can debate all day whether he is right or wrong. Like any manager, if he felt Ozil was going to add something to his team, he would have him and he's starting him, because ultimately he wants to protect his job.
"It's very well to say he earns lots, he's not playing but what has he got to worry about? I have a lot of sympathy for Ozil in that psychologically this must be doing quite a lot of damage to him. It must be very, very difficult. Of course he wants to play - he did an interview a few weeks ago saying that. So that could have quite a long-term impact for Ozil, I fear.
"Even when he does eventually leave Arsenal. Who's going to take him? That's the big issue in terms of his wages and he's still got a couple of years left. I think we've got to be aware of that as well. It must be so frustrating and very, very difficult for him.
"What makes it worse is off the pitch. Having the Turkish president as his best friend - in Germany, some of those are very brave decisions. With football he's got no future at Arsenal. That's quite obvious. It'd just be good if someone can pluck up the courage to get him out the club - but who is going to pay him £350k a week? He's not going to just walk away for free or be allowed to.
"And then equally a club who takes Ozil knows they're going to have to be really, really patient with him. If he does go to another club, it's not easy, even though he can be a terrific footballer.
"When he joined Arsenal I spoke to a few people in Germany and they said what a great player he can be, even then it was, 'he'll be good at Arsenal if he works hard enough'. He's always been that type of luxury player.
"I just think is he going to play for Arsenal again? If they get lots of injuries, it could happen. The way it's going at the moment, we won't see him for Arsenal again."
"He's not that good, because he won't allow himself to be because he has none of Silva's work ethic," Ian Ladyman, Football Editor at the Daily Mail said, when asked about the difference between David Silva and Ozil.
"He has none of Silva's ability and desire to play in pain. Silva's played with battered ankles for the best part of five seasons. He tapes them gets out there and plays.
"Ozil's been a failure at Arsenal since the moment he walked in the door. The only difference is that Arsene Wenger refused to see it. The one thing Unai Emery has got absolutely right is his approach to Ozil. He's not good enough, key enough, brave enough to play in a top Premier League team. Pep Guardiola wouldn't go anywhere near him. I'm absolutely sure of that."
"I'd divide it into two pieces," Sam Wallace, Chief Football Writer at The Daily Telegraph, added. "My colleague Sam Dean went to the ancestral town of Ozil in Turkey and the political pressure he is under, as this modern child of Europe who can count three places as his home - Gelsenkirchen where he grew up, Turkey where his grandparents moved from and now London - is huge.
"I must admit that piece by Sam changed my perspective on him. I saw him as being self-indulgent but when you look at his profile in Turkey and Germany that opened my eyes. He clearly felt that he was racially abused in Germany after the last World Cup. So I think that is something to take under consideration.
"The other thing is I kind of admire Emery to make the stance. He is trying to do something and he may fail. Eleven senior players left in the summer, he's tried five different people in the last three games in that No 10, playmaking role. None of them have been Ozil.
"He is trying to develop (Joe) Willock, he is trying to develop (Bukayo) Saka, he is giving (Matteo) Guendouzi the platform to play and he's done well. He's trying to bring through a new generation. He's got a plan and it doesn't always work - it may not work and it may not work for lots of reasons. He's not a (Jurgen) Klopp personality, he's not a (Mauricio) Pochettino personality who has that charisma and that is important.
"He's trying to do something and I can see clearly watching this week that there are obvious frustrations. It feels like it's on that watershed where it could go either way. Leaving a player like Ozil out is tough but he's made the decision and he'll live or die by it."
