Mesut Ozil has revealed that he doesn’t take much notice of what his critics are saying, with the opinions of his Arsenal coach and teammates being all that matter.
The German playmaker is currently playing a key role for the Gunners in their impressive run of form, scoring four goals and providing one assist in nine appearances so far this season.
However, as noted by The Telegraph last season where he received criticism from former players, to recent scrutiny from Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness, as per The Independent, he does seem like an easy target particularly when things aren’t going well for the team.
In many instances it is justified. Ozil has had a tendency to go missing in big games and he surely isn’t as consistent as he’d like to be.
Nevertheless, he has provided a response and in many ways it’s a fair one, as ultimately it’s much better to listen to the constructive criticism he gets from Unai Emery and other key figures at Arsenal around him as well as his own entourage rather than to those who criticise him on the TV in a punditry role or those on social media.
“I just laugh,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t listen to these people – I just listen to my coach and my people who say things straight to my face. So of course, if I play bad, I know that just as I know when I play well.
“But if people just say bad things about me because they want to be in the newspaper – I know that and I don’t care about them.”
The 30-year-old also went on to reveal how passionate he is in training and on the pitch which some perhaps don’t acknowledge while dismissing any talk of an early rift with Emery.
Further, he did perhaps hint at some discontent over not playing in his preferred position as a No.10 in a central role as opposed to being out on the right currently. However, given his current form and that of Arsenal who are on an 11-game winning streak across all competitions, there is little to moan about and nothing that should be changed in the more immediate future.