Mesut Ozil and many Arsenal fans were very happy with the Gunners’ showing against Leicester, but Premier League legend, Graeme Souness, thinks the playmaker should be judged on performances in big games.
A man of the match display in the 3-1 win with a goal and an assist saw Ozil claim the Gooners played ‘sexy football’.
Arsenal have now won seven Premier League games in a row and are on a 10-match winning streak, but Sky Sports pundit Souness said the German is still absent when it counts.
“He does polarise opinion,” he explained. “I think when Arsenal are not dominating games, are not on the front foot, he’s absent. The big players, on big money, that come for big transfer fees, with the utmost respect to Leicester, these are not the games you want to be judging them on.
“It’s when they play in the Champions League latter stages, or when they play against rivals for Champions League spots or going for the Premier League title. The big games that really matter, where the big players are generally the ones who make the difference and win the games.
“I don’t think in his career he’s done that enough times. We’re getting carried away with this tonight, we’re talking about it, and we should say nice things because his football was excellent, he has a football brain that not many have and a technique few people have.
“He does go missing in games when Arsenal don’t dominate the ball, and in the big games,
I would question if he has turned up.”Ozil is often singled out for criticism, having arrived with a big reputation from Real Madrid in 2013 and signing a massive new contract said to earn him more than £300,000-a-week.”
