Arsenal stars gang up on Mesut Ozil over prima donna attitude

A number of Arsenal players are reportedly growing increasingly irked by Mesut Ozil’s lackadaisical attitude and believe the player is increasingly being allowed to “pick and choose” the matches he plays in for the Gunners.

That’s according to a damaging report in The Sun, which suggests a number of Arsenal stars have complained to the management about the number of times the German star – the club’s highest-paid player on £350,000 a week – has declared himself unavailable for matches this season.

And the stats don’t lie: Ozil has not started 25 of Arsenal’s 58 matches this season, with the player afforded rests in the group stages of the Europa League, as well as the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

The player has also missed their last five Premier League games, including Sunday’s Emirates Stadium farewell for Arsene Wenger. A thigh injury has been cited for his latest absence, which also looks likely to rule him out of Wednesday’s match at Leicester and the final game of the season at Huddersfield.

The 29-year-old’s latest setback follows a series of mystery injuries which have disrupted his contributions for Arsenal over the past 18 months.

And now it seems a number of Arsenal stars are becoming annoyed by the player’s ‘prima donna’ attitude. It’s reported that a number of them are said to have issued a complaint to the management after Ozil’s absence from their final training session ahead of the Burnley game –  which they won 5-0 – proved the final straw.

Tellingly, there had been no mention of an injury in the aftermath of Thursday’s Europa League defeat by Atletico Madrid – a match in which his attitude and application was severely questioned by TV pundit and former Gunners star Martin Keown.

“I haven’t been happy with him for some time,” Keown said after the 1-0 defeat in Madrid that ended Arsenal’s hopes of silverware this season.

“It seems as though he picks and chooses his games. He was on the edge of things today. I bet he doesn’t play again this season. He will have some emotional breakdown and won’t be able to play at the weekend.

“I don’t know how many illnesses he has had this season but the fella is not kidding me. That is not a proper performance. He isn’t giving everything and there is a lot more under the bonnet.

“He wasn’t fit to wear the shirt for me tonight and I have seen this a lot this season and it needs to be said.”

Defending his latest absence, Ozil tweeted on Monday: “It’s a pity I missed yesterday’s match with my back injury. It’ll need some time but I’m sure I’ll fully recover in time for the World Cup. Once again I’d like to thank our boss. It was an honour playing for you, Mon. Wenger! Thanks for all the memories we shared together.”

 

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