Ahead of Arsenal's tussle with Sheffield United, Gunners boss Unai Emery has made clear Mesut Ozil is beginning to make good impressions. Despite missing too many fixtures under Emery, the presumption was Ozil would make the pitch versus Sheffield. The German was nowhere to be found.
The match resulted in another loss for the Gunners on the road. And the question remains: What happened to Ozil?
According to The Daily Mail, Ozil has been left out of Arsenal's last four matchday squads and the club's fortunes remain on the slide. So far in the ongoing season, the German midfielder has only been seen in one Premier League game.
What is more, puzzling is Emery's stand on the subject. BBC said the Arsenal manager was clear on one thing - that Ozil can surely help the club. So it's a wonder why he is not making the pitch, and seemingly, the Gunners are continuing to overlook his usefulness.
Per the same report, Arsenal, or specifically Emery, will need to make known the reasons behind Ozil's continued absence from the Gunners' fixtures. All in all, the German has already missed over 100 games, and the irony of it is he is the highest earner in the club.
Observers said there is no doubt Ozil is still a player able to contribute to a win, so Arsenal must be forthcoming in saying what seems to be the problem with the German star.
Ahead of the losing game against the Blades, Emery even mentioned that the Gunners had impressed him during the training days and his praises did not exclude the missing-in-action Ozil, whom he described as "working very well."
However, Emery chose not to back his words with action. Ozil did not make the cut for the clash against Sheffield, and the Gunners went down in defeat.
Now Arsenal legend Martin Keown tried to explain the situation by offering his thoughts that, perhaps, the fault rests on the German himself, Metro reported. Ozil seemed to lack the zeal to prove that he remains a winner, Keown said.
"He has to take a look at himself. It can't be everybody else's fault ... At the moment is he setting a good example in training? As a senior player I would make sure that the youngsters would follow on," the former Gunners icon was reported as saying.
He added Ozil seemed not doing enough for the club and is unwilling to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him.
"I don't see him saying anywhere he is desperate to play. For me, the oxygen every weekend was to be in that team and I would bust a gut and I want to see that from Ozil," Keown said.
