Mariner believes the 30-year-old is doing
little to justify a regular role or his new
deal at Arsenal
- Ozil was absent for Arsenal over the
weekend as they suffered a 1-0 derby
defeat to London rivals West Ham
Mesut Ozil has been slammed for
offering Arsenal nothing since penning
an extension in 2018 with the Emirates
dwellers claims club legend Paul
Mariner.
According to a Goal.com report citing
ESPN FC podcast, Paul Mariner is
unhappy with Ozil current form,
insisting the 30-year-old Ozil is not
doing enough to guarantee regular
playing time in the Unai Emery tutored-
side despite the euphoria that greeted
his new deal back in February 2018.
“I’m dumbfounded why Arsenal would
let [Alexis] Sanchez go. Sanchez, when I
used to go to Arsenal to watch him play,
he was phenomenal.
“It didn’t pan out so much for United but
they let Sanchez go, they’re letting
[Aaron] Ramsey go for nothing! What’s
going on?
“And with Ozil, there’s something going
on with Ozil that we don’t know about.
“Arsenal decided to put all their eggs in
one basket with Ozil, right? But what’s
Ozil done for the club? Absolutely zero!
Zero.
“Yes, he’s a fantastic player, but he’s got
to get fit. He’s never fit! There’s
something going on with this kid that we
don’t know about,†Mariner added.
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Ozil was missing in action for Arsenal
during last weekend’s 1-0 defeat by
West Ham as the Gunners lacked
creativity in the middle of the pack.
But Emery refused blaming lack of
quality in the squad by claiming his side
can cope without one player (Ozil).
“ He’s working this week normally. Like I
said we win with him and lose with him.
Today the decision is to come with these
players.
“But, like I have said, we have won with
him and lost with him, and today I chose
the players who deserved to play in this
match.
“I decided that these players were the
best for this match.
“We had enough players to win today.
The quality is there. And I chose the
players who deserved to play in this
match,†the Spaniard explained.
Ozil will be looking forward to return
for a crunch clash with Chelsea on
Saturday which could go a long way
towards determining whether Arsenal
remain in the hunt for a top-four finish.
Earlier, Legit.ng reported Declan Rice's
48th minute strike was all West Ham
United needed to beat visiting Arsenal
1-0 at the London Stadium this
weekend.
It was a tough encounter that witnessed
the Hammers rise two places on the log
to eighth place after the hosts claimed
maximum points in the meeting.
Felipe Anderson moved passed
Alexandre Lacazette to sweep the ball in
only for Samir Nasri to find Rice, who
made no mistake in scoring through a
superb strike to the top corner.
