Martin Keown pulled no punches when he analysed Mesut Ozil’s performance on Thursday night.
The finger of blame was pointed in Ozil’s direction after Arsenal failed to reach the Europa League final following their semi-final second leg defeat to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano.
As Keown explained where it all went wrong for his former side, he held nothing back as he went in two-footed on the German playmaker on BT Sport.
“I haven’t been happy with him for some time,” Keown said. “It seems as if he picks and chooses his games.
"That fella is NOT kidding me. That is NOT a proper performance. He's NOT giving everything!" 😡
Martin Keown is absolutely livid with what he's seeing from Mesut Özil… 😳 pic.twitter.com/nk73hG3DZ8
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 3, 2018
“At times I’m watching and thinking ‘are you going to get back for your team and put a shift in?’ The great players I played with, your Bergkamps and your Henrys, they worked hard as well.
“I don’t think this team can carry anybody. Tonight, they looked like they were carrying him.”
The ex-Gunners defender’s comments were brutal but he saved his most scathing assessment for next as he predicted how Ozil would react to the loss.
“He’ll have some emotional breakdown and won’t play this weekend,” Keown insisted. “I don’t know how many illnesses he has had. He wasn’t fit to wear the shirt tonight.”
The remark about anticipating an emotional breakdown has even led some fans to suggest that the pundit went too far and his former manager addressed the remarks after the game.
https://twitter.com/FKAFredi/status/992275634545049601
https://twitter.com/samb8s/status/992153367983132674
When asked to respond to Keown’s analysis, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claimed that pundits now have a tendency to be as harsh as possible in order to make headlines.
“I don’t agree with that,” Wenger said. “I think you will see that when you analyse his physical performance that he gave a lot tonight.
“It was a difficult game, physically very intense and I’m convinced Ozil should not be now vindicated by anybody because we didn’t score. We had plenty of opportunities in the two games. We lose as a team.
“I don’t agree with that, coming out now straight away. When you want to be listened to now you always have to be extreme.
“Football is a bit more complicated than that, a bit more complex.”
