20 Feb 2014 10:39:06
To all those that say Ozil will come good soon, I say don't get your hopes up. Ozil is a flair player and the worst kind too. I watched this since his Bremen day and he hates defending. He also hates responsibility. He is too mentally weak to handle it. Once one thing goes wrong everything falls apart for him.

The only way you get the best out of him is to have players like Rambo do the defensive work of two men.

Another thing. If Wenger had Podolski on the pitch against Bayern as he should have, he definitely would have taken that penalty and we might have had a different night.

Gutted about the loss but we soldier on. COYG!

1.) 20 Feb 2014
What nonsense. Ozil is an immense player and together with Flamini has transformed us into title contenders this season, as well as a good run in the FA Cup, despite difficult fixtures against Tottenham & Liverpool and qualification for the knock out stage of the Champions League. He is in his first season in the Premiership, an intense & physical league, which often takes a player a season to get used to. Look at Mertesacker in his first season & now. I do agree that Podolski should have been selected, as he gave a good performance against Liverpool and would have relished the opportunity to play against fellow Germans and his old team. As for the penalty, I aslo agree Podolski would have been a better option. let's get behind Ozil and encourage him. However, I believe he will be given a well deserved rest against Sunderland.

2.) 20 Feb 2014
Ozil needs a rest for sure and to be taking out of press limelight for a while. It's his first season in EPL which is like no other european league in terms of intensity and physicality of each and every match, it has now taken its toll on him.

He has likely played more minutes already for us then he did in the whole seaon at Madrid. At teams like Madrid in a slower less direct league the flair players don't have to do much defending and tracking back liek they do here so he still getting used to the work load required.

The pressure is also greater on him because he is our one star quality player with a big price tag to go with it so all the press and pundits are analysing every single mistake he is making.

Class is permenant and he will come good. Look at Mert in his 1st seson to this season, it takes time to adapt to EPL.

I would move Cazorla into more central role and use Podolski for next game and give Ozil a rest

3.) 20 Feb 2014
The stick some fans are given Ozil is unjust. Yes he is not playing his best at the moment but that's because has no players in front of him making any runs or movement, he is missing players like Ramsey and Walcott who are willing to make runs beyond Giroud into the space, where Ozil can provide the killer pass we all know he is good at. We all knew when we signed him that he is not great at defending, in my opinion he is playing too deep we want him further up the field where he can be most dangerous. yes we paid a lot of money for Ozil and we expect a lot but he is no Messi/Ronaldo who can boss every game. Ozil is taking a lot of stick whereas Cazorla seems to be getting off lightly he has been poor all season and needs to be dropped with Podolski brought into the side. Ozil needs time to adapt to English football and we need to sign some more quality to help carry the burden.