Mesut Ozil’s situation at Arsenal is so hard to figure out because he tends to become the scapegoat if he plays and the team loses, but the fans also demand his inclusion when he’s left on the side-lines.
The German has played the PR game perfectly this season after being left out of the first team squad, while a total lack of creativity in recent performances do suggest he might deserve another chance.
The problem for Mikel Arteta is that he’s starting to come under pressure for his job and he made the decision to banish Ozil from the squad, so he might fear that he’ll look weak by caving into fan’s demands and bringing him back into the fold.
It’s a distraction that he could seriously do without, so surely he would’ve been hoping that Ozil might find a way to quietly leave the club next month.
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It turns out that the opposite is true after Goal reported that Ozil’s agent has confirmed his client will stay “loyal” to the club, which is an interesting way of saying he’ll sit in the stands and take a giant wage for another six months.
It means that Arteta is going to have a decision to make next month when registration opens again, but it would be great to see if Ozil actually makes any difference.
Sod’s law dictates that he will get another chance and he’ll be utterly awful which leads to further criticism of Arteta for changing his mind, but the calls will keep getting louder for as long as the team fails to win.