Ozil does care about Arsenal – Wenger

Mesut Ozil cares more for Arsenal than people realise, according to his manager, after Arsene Wenger himself seemed to hint that the playmaker’s form had dipped after the Gunners exited the Champions League.

Speaking after Arsenal’s midweek win over West Ham – in which Ozil scored his tenth goal of the season in a striking return to form – Wenger stated the German had been hit hard by their exit to Bayern Munich.

While some observers took that to mean Ozil had now given up on the season with little to play for, Wenger was at pains to clarify his comments ahead of Monday night’s clash with struggling Crystal Palace.

“He is very ambitious and he wants to win the Champions League,” Wenger said. “He’s come out many times saying that. If you look at the two games and take the first 45 minutes of the two games, we were qualified but then went out in such an emphatic way.

Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

“It was difficult to take for everybody and maybe even more for him because it’s a big part of his ambition.

“He cares. What I wanted to say in that is that people often reproach him by saying that he doesn’t care because of his style of play, but he cares much more than people think he does.”