Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain claims there’s something everyone gets so wrong about Mesut Ozil

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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain believes that a criticism that was consistently thrown at former Arsenal player Mesut Ozil was ‘absolute nonsense’.

Ozil made 254 appearances for the Gunners between 2013 and 2020, scoring 44 goals and winning two FA Cups in the process.

The German played alongside Oxlade-Chamberlain for four of these years in North London, before the Englishman left for Liverpool in a £35 million move.

While Ozil was universally praised for his playmaking abilities, this wasn’t enough for him to garner plaudits from all corners of the football landscape.

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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says claims that Mesut Ozil was ‘lazy’ were ‘absolute nonsense’

Ozil was a diminutive footballer, whose languid style rubbed some people up the wrong way.

As effortless as he was with the ball at his feet, the way he moved out of possession often led to accusations of him not giving his all.

Theo Walcott even described Ozil as ‘lazy’, a specific criticism that arose throughout his career, particularly after the Gunners endured negative results.

Speaking on the Fozcast, Oxlade-Chamberlain dispelled this narrative. The former Liverpool star claimed that Ozil actually worked tirelessly in matches, constantly making off-the-ball runs to receive it from his teammates.

“Mesut was fun to play with and there was definitely an element with Mesut that was like, mad respect for him,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said.

“That aura that he brings, it was always like, ‘I want to do a one-two with Mesut here’. Or I’d try and find him and he’d appreciate anything really good.

“By the way, the conception of Mesut being lazy, absolute nonsense. Like, that fella would run 11.5k every game off the ball. Runs in behind.

“People just see, if he gives it away, is he going to start sprinting? That wasn’t part of his game but the amount of running he did off the ball and people were saying he’s lazy, I’m like, just look at the stats. You got no clue how much running he does off the ball.”

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mesut Ozil were an underrated dynamic duo

While Arsene Wenger generally favoured the likes of Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal’s wingers during Oxlade-Chamberlain’s latter years at the Emirates, the former Southampton man was still a key player for the Gunners for a while.

In fact, he actually formed a dynamic partnership with Ozil when the two players were on the pitch together.

Oxlade-Chamberlain made 139 appearances in a red and white shirt whilst the former Real Madrid star was at the Emirates, and they combined for a handful of goals.

The England international developed into a midfielder when he went to Anfield, but was an electric and powerful winger for the majority of his time at Arsenal.

This meant that Ozil’s exquisite passing ability fed into Oxlade-Chamberlain’s strength of running in behind. The number ten consistently found the wide man’s darting runs with inch-perfect balls, and this combination was a huge threat for the North Londoners.