I don’t care what people think of me
SAYS MESUT OZIL
OPINIONS and Mesut Ozil go hand-in-hand. You’ll have reached your own conclusions about the enigmatic German. Genius, lazy, luxury player, disinterested, unpatriotic or under-appreciated; whatever the stigma, Ozil’s probably been called it.
Of course, all those opinions are justified — Ozil admits as much as he sits down with
Sportsmail for a rare newspaper interview. But don’t expect Ozil to listen. Don’t expect him to take it to heart. Don’t expect him to care.
‘Look, I know there’s people out there that like me, there are also people who don’t like me,’ Ozil says. ‘For me, what is important is what the people in my inner circle tell me.
‘If the coach, or people in my circle, tell me, “Mesut, you have to do this, or have to do that”, then I listen. I’ll take that and work on it. But I don’t look at what someone else is saying. It really doesn’t affect me.’
Who are such remarks aimed at? TV pundits? Maybe.
He was recently described as ‘petulant’ by Graeme Souness. Ozil will argue he’s been called far worse. Or maybe it’s those who criticised him over his international retirement after Germany’s disastrous World Cup.
The midfielder, born to Turkish parents, cited ‘discrimination’ as his reason for walking away from international football.
‘I am German when we win, an immigrant when we lose,’ said Ozil — a devout Muslim — in July. Yet there’s no anger or resentment in his tone. Instead, his response is cool and calculated, with the same precision as his outrageous outside-of-the-boot pass to set-up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in last month’s win over Leicester.
Ozil was breathtaking that night — a goal followed by that sublime assist. All that on an evening when he was captaining Arsenal for the first time. Perhaps his best performance in an Arsenal shirt.
Unai Emery’s revolution is quickly taking shape — and Ozil is a central figure in the club’s resurgence. Tonight, Arsenal can extend their unbeaten run to 15 games when they take on Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.
But just as Ozil refuses to hit back at criticism, His own man: Mesut Ozil insists he is not affected by opinions of pundits he plays down his sizzling display against Leicester and Arsenal’s excellent start to life under Emery.
‘Personally, things are going well but that doesn’t mean I stop working,’ he said. ‘The most important thing is that the team is going well.
‘But we have to keep being hungry, and keep progressing. It’s not like we are done now (because we have gone 14 games unbeaten).’
Reminders of what await Arsenal should they continue their brilliant form surround Ozil as we meet in London’s Covent Garden at the launch of his new wellbeing brand UNITY, cofounded with former Gunners team-mate Matthieu Flamini.
Hundreds of PSV Eindhoven fans are in Covent Garden on Tuesday night before the Champions League clash with Tottenham at Wembley.
Next year, Ozil hopes he’ll be playing on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. But if Arsenal fail to land a top-four place, he’ll handle the disappointment.
‘I love football, football is my passion — that’s why I’m playing,’ he explains. ‘But I know there’s a life outside the pitch. When I go home, or after a game then I’m in a normal life, if I can give something back then I will do.’ ARSENAL (v Sporting Lisbon, 4-2-3-1, probable): Cech; Lichtsteiner, Holding, Sokratis, Kolasinac; Xhaka, Guendouzi; Iwobi, Ramsey, Welbeck; Aubameyang. Kick-off: 8pm, Emirates Stadium. TV: LIVE on BT Sport 2 from 8pm.