Mesut Özil Told to Shape Up

It hasn’t been the best of seasons for Mesut Özil and today Arsenal boss Unai Emery has confirmed that he has had a bit of a chat with the midfielder about the way things have gone so far.

Absence has featured high on this agenda for the player who has actually only managed to play in 18 games this season, and since Boxing Day nearly eight weeks ago has only started once. Naturally, the team is none too impressed and has floated the idea that the contract which was made long term last year and is worth £350,000 per week could be to blame. Arsene Wenger certainly thinks that the issue could be down to getting somewhat comfortable now the ink has dried and muted that the player was rather complacent now.

Mesut Özil, on the other hand, stands by his lack of appearance and says that it has been a sickness issue with an unknown illness that has kept him away from the pitch. It has been a bad run of luck for the player who has also endured minor injuries which he claims are directly attributable to his rather poor performance when he does make it to the action.

Emery seems quite philosophical about the issue saying that the player has the ability to make or break his career now. He said at a press conference “He’s working very well this week and I asked him in our conversation to be consistent, to be available for training. I said that when you can train with us consistently, you can help us with your best performance in the games.“I think this week was good for all the players because we are in a big, important moment for the season. I am looking at him doing the training as we want. I know he wants that, but he needs consistency, to be available for training and the matches without injuries, without being sick. Like that, I think we can see the best Mesut.”

Clearly, however, the future is not going to be terribly rosy if the player continues to have a rather haphazard approach to training and in fairness, this is almost unprecedented with most Premier League players all over the world genuinely in love with the game and honoured to be playing for their teams. It is assumed that there will have to be further action and possibly some sort of disciplinary action if he cannot get himself together. We have to assume that the club will be monitoring the illness and asking for medical input if it continues to be a problem, but freetips.com will be watching with interest to see what happens next.

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