HUGO FIRST, HARRY KEOWN: OVERINDULGED OZIL IS EMBARRASSING

Poch gives Lloris’s armband to Kane and has faith in him to stay true to himself and be captain Spurs need after awful run

MARTIN KEOWN has told Mesut Ozil to back up his big words with quality performances on the pitch.

Arsenal outcast Ozil, 31, (above) claims he has been made a scapegoat for poor results in big games.

Boss Unai Emery has picked him just twice all season, but says the World Cup winner could be back soon as he has perked up in training.

But Keown – a three-time Premier League winner under Arsene Wenger and a fierce critic of Ozil – remains unconvinced.

He said: “I was seriously worried for his immune system, the amount of games he missed through allegedly being ill, or having a back injury.

“He has only been given another opportunity with Emery because it looks like he has started to work hard again.

“I believe he has been overindulged in the past.

It’s embarrassing for the football club that he is not featuring.

“The manager has to get him back into the team but, if his attitude drops again, then big decisions need to be made.”

Keown (below) insisted Ozil’s attitude would have sparked a dressing-room ruck had he been a member of Wenger’s Invincibles squad of 2003-04.

He added: “I feel, at times, he has been disdainful with his team-mates, if he doesn’t receive the right ball.

“To be honest, if he was in our dressing room, there were a few players who would have had him round the throat early on because of his body language.”

Emery will decide today if striker Alexandre Lacazette is able to return from an ankle injury at Sheffield United on

Monday. MAURICIO POCHETTINO has told Harry Kane to show he is “a natural leader”.

England captain Kane will also wear the armband for Tottenham over the next few months while Hugo

Lloris recovers from injury.

It will be a difficult challenge for the striker as

Spurs are stuck in a bad run of form and anything but victory against Watford today will be seen as a disaster.

But boss Pochettino (above) says Kane should not worry about it too much because he does not want him to change the way he acts.

Pochettino said: “Harry has a good example with Hugo, working with him. I think he learned a lot from Hugo. He is young but he is learning a lot from different people and he is very mature. He is capable.

“But he does not need to feel too much pressure. He needs to act naturally. The most important thing is to not show too much the responsibility on your shoulders.

“When you act natural, if you are a leader, you don’t feel the responsibility. When you do what you feel, what you feel here in your heart, it’s natural. The problem is if you need to act.

“If you are not a real leader and you need to act, you spend energy thinking, ‘How do I need to face this problem?’

“But if you trust in yourself and you are a natural leader, I promise, you don’t feel the responsibility.”

Pochettino tried to lift the mood this week as Tottenham’s players returned from international duty having gone away on the back of two demoralising defeats – a 7-2 Champions League thrashing at home to Bayern Munich and a 3-0 loss at Brighton.

But the Argentinian knows it really will be seen as a crisis if they cannot beat rock-bottom

Watford.

He said: “It is important to win. It is the best medicine for everyone to win games and have a good performance.

“When you arrive in a period like this you can hear a lot of opinions but the most important is our assessment, the way that we talk.

“We need to be calm and play with freedom.

The most important thing is to no think of the consequences.

“The key is to provide the team with togetherness, be calm and to believe in them.” Watford to win