On Friday I wrote that the real reason Mesut Özil wasn’t in the Arsenal squads for the Europa League and Premier League was because he didn’t try hard enough, and wasn’t producing what Mikel Arteta wanted.
I wrote that because there was so much hype and rubbish about Özil’s comments about Uighur Muslims in China, and the refusal to take a pay cut.
Despite the fact that (a) he played the following 10 games after making that statement and (b) two other players refused to take pay cuts as well, but are starting games week in week out for Arteta.
But despite all the facts, a certain section of the Arsenal fanbase are insistent that Özil is the victim in all of this, and that he is being wronged by Arsenal and their manager.
Some of the Arsenal fans are so gullible when it comes to Mesut Özil it’s untrue. The club and manager have made no comment, except that his exclusion is down to “footballing issues”.
Over the last few weeks, Özil has tried to influence his 22 million odd Twitter and Instagram followers with his own narrative, making out he is the victim in all of this – trying to justify his collection of £350k per week for essentially being at home.
But let’s look at his Arsenal career and relationship with managers since he joined shall we?
Under Arsene Wenger, he was given special allowances to take days off and regularly missed Arsenal matches. That’s right, a professional football who regularly took days off during the season. And Arsene has reiterated this in various interviews promoting his new book, stating that some players need an arm around their shoulder and need to be treated differently to the others. Yeah, that seems fair.
Under Unai Emery, he wouldn’t get in line and was regularly on the bench. Under Freddie, he was in and out as well, and now under Arteta he’s out in the cold. How many chances does this man need?
Now let’s look at the current situation.
He’s being paid £350k per week and focuses on his other commitments, like playing / selling Fortnite, launching his own fashion label and has investments in certain cafes in London. Why would he want to leave Arsenal?
He doesn’t have to play football, gets paid handsomely and has business interests to take care of. For Özil, it’s a win-win situation.
And on top of that, he can paint his own narrative that means he’s the victim in a great big Arsenal conspiracy where the club are akin to a ruthless regime where people’s heads get chopped off or players are sent to prison.
He goes on and on about wanting to play football. Well why not move on and play somewhere else then? Oh that’s right, that’s because the new club will find out how much of a fraud you really are.
But you’re wrong, it’s ARSENAL he wants to play for! Oh right, again I’m sorry – is that why since signing his brand new contract he’s consistently strolled around the pitch? Arsenal fans have short memories – let’s not pretend Özil performed like a peak Dennis Bergkamp following his new deal!
It’s all smoke and mirrors, a battle of the PR companies. Mesut Özil is on an extremely sweet deal and instead of moving on he’s content to sit there and pick up his massive salary.
And my point is this – there’s nothing wrong with that. The club offered him a new deal, and he agreed to it and signed it. That’s the whole point of a contract. Özil honouring his contract isn’t the issue, he can do what he likes.
The issue I have is him stirring the pot with these stupid social media posts and polls, trying to make out he’s the victim. If he persists in collecting his massive wage, fair enough, but for goodness sake just be quiet about it and stop disrupting the club, the manager and the players who are giving everything when they wear the shirt.