Arsene Wenger says he didn’t recognize the Mesut Ozil playing for Germany at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Ozil, 29, has been urged to retire from international football after becoming the scapegoat to Germany’s recent shortcomings at the global showpiece.
And Wenger, who coached the playmaker at the Arsenal over five season admits Ozil was suffering from a shortage of confidence based on the off-the-field issues blown up in the media prior to Russia 2018.
“I know Ozil well, he’s an exceptional football player but him and Gundogan suffered from what happened before the World Cup,” he told beIN SPORTS .
“They have been vindicated in Germany when Ozil is a guy who needs support. He doesn’t need controversy. When I watched him play I could feel that there were situations in the game where he could have moved forward, progressed, played more vertically.
“He played for security and I was thinking ‘come on, that’s not the real Ozil I know, the guy who can kill’. He did play alright but I think he didn’t play with complete freedom, he played a little bit with the handbrake and Gundogan didn’t play at all, and Gundogan is a great player.”