‘I wasn’t given a chance’ - Ozil frustrated with Arsenal boss Arteta

Mesut Ozil confessed that Mikel Arteta’s refusal to play him recently left the ‘fit enough’ Arsenal man frustrated.

Arteta replacing the ousted Unai Emery as manager in December seemingly revived Ozil’s Arsenal career.

He featured 12 times and showed flashes of his old self again as Arsenal enjoyed an upturn in form. All seemed rosy again until the coronavirus-enforced break in March.

Ozil has since not played a single minute of football since setting up Alexandre Lacazette’s winner against West Ham on March 7. In fact, he’s only made the matchday squad twice since lockdown ended.

The former Real Madrid ace, therefore, has been left out in the cold for Arsenal’s last 13 games.

Watching the Gunners win the FA Cup final win against Chelsea on holiday in Turkey rather than in the stands at Wembley was another new low for Ozil.

Great job my boys!!! 🏆👏🏼❤️ #YaGunnersYa #FACupWinners

— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) August 1, 2020

Now the German has revealed to Arsenal correspondent David Ornstein his frustrations over the lack of game-time, despite keeping himself in top physical condition.

“I can’t talk about my private conversations with the coach,” Ozil said on his relationship with Arteta on The Athletic.

“But I can tell you I know my body well. I was fit enough to play every game before the break and, apart from a small injury, it was the same after.

“My daughter [Eda] was born while we were off so maybe I was not always sleeping perfectly, but this is normal. I actually had more energy and excitement to play because of her.

“As a player, you sometimes have bad days and can’t always be happy, especially if you’re not playing.

“When you know how good you are and you know you’re not going to be picked, it’s hard to be at 100 percent and, of course, you can get disappointed. This is my profession, it’s what I love doing: being on the pitch, playing matches, showing the people, helping the club and my team.

“I fully respect the coach’s decision but I believe these things should mainly be decided on the pitch.

“After the restart, I wasn’t given a chance to show what I can do. You don’t play 10 games in a row if you’re unfit, not good enough or don’t behave well.

“If I played these games badly and was then left out completely for that reason then I might understand, but this was not the case.”

Arsenal had four wins, five draws and, just one defeat in Arteta’s opening 10 games with Ozil on the pitch in the Premier League. Without him, however, they had five wins, one stalemate, and four defeats.

Although the London side did win the FA Cup and secured European football for another season.

On whether the club performed better in his absence, Ozil said: “If you consider the circumstances, you cannot use these statistics.”