beIN SPORTS pundit Andy Gray has ripped into Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil after his abject performance against Manchester City on Sunday.
The German was substituted during the second half of a hugely lacklustre Gunners performance in their 3-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side, and Ozil was one of the biggest culprits.
His undignified reaction to being replaced was likely the final straw for him in the eyes of many Arsenal fans, and certainly in Gray’s!
“I felt sorry for [Matteo] Guendouzi and [Lucas] Torreira today,” he said on beIN SPORTS. “Ozil being basically a passenger when they don’t have the football – basically a passenger.
“He’s never going to affect the play when Arsenal don’t have the football. By that I mean he’s never going to intercept a pass, he’s never going to make a tackle, he’s never going to chase back.”
Andy Gray rips into "passenger" Mesut Ozil!#beINPL #ARSMCI pic.twitter.com/AXlAJybtn3
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) December 15, 2019
Is Gray correct here?
In a word, yes.
Ozil produced one of the worst individual performances we’ve seen this season, as he contributed next to nothing defensively in what was always going to be a backs-against-the-walls effort against a side like City.
As per WhoScored.com, the 31-year-old scored a zero across every single defensive statistical category on Sunday. That means no tackles, no interceptions, no blocks and no clearances.
That amounted to a horrific WhoScored rating of 5.79, which tells you everything you need to know about how poor he was against the champions. Surely it’s time the Gunners got rid, it’s clearly not working with Ozil.
