Joachim Loew says he doesn’t expect Mesut Ozil to return to the Germany fold and revealed he’s not spoken to the midfielder since the Arsenal star announced he was stepping away from international football.
Ozil said he was subjected to unfair discrimination following a photographed meeting with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and claimed he was made a scapegoat for Die Mannschaft’s poor performance at the World Cup, particularly by Reinhard Grindel, the president of the DFB.
Since his statement, released via social media, former teammates, including Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer have dismissed Ozil’s claims.
Ahead of Interlull matches with Peru and Russia, Loew was asked about the absence of a player who for so long was the first name on his teamsheet.
“In my view, Mesut Ozil has clearly declared his retirement and closed the door by himself with that, so a comeback is not a topic,” he told Sport Bild.
“Mesut did not call me, not to this very day. I tried to reach him several times in the past two weeks, via text message, via phone. Mesut has decided to take this path. I must accept it.
“Ozil has been my player for nine years. We’ve experienced a lot together. A few lows, but more highs. We’ve won the World Cup. This will still stay forever.
“I am still of the opinion that he was one of the best players we had in Germany in the last 20, 30 years. One day, we’ll have a conversation. I would have wished for him to inform me personally, and I was disappointed at first.”
It’s a sad situation for Ozil, but one that could play to Arsenal’s advantage in the long-term. Here’s hoping the additional rest periods during the season keep the midfielder fresher for longer in our colours.
High praise, one of the best players of the last 20/30 years.
Good we have him for ourselves now.
The english media and pundits have their own opinion: “He needs to run around a bit more.”
Such a myopic bunch!!!
That discussion between Keown and Jenas with Keown demanding he tackles harder, runs around more an acts like more of a man general while Jenas tries to explain he isn’t that kind of player.
Embarrassing.
yea its pretty bad that one of the sp*rs ex players had to educate one of our ex players about one of our current players, and accept him for his strengths and flaws and not only appreciate him if he fits a mold.
Sad what punditry has been reduced to, as the game actually has incredible strategic depth.
He really is and it’s a shame he’s often the scapegoat for both his club and country. Such a misunderstood and underrated player, I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for someone who is a proud German.
We need to support him and show him arsenal is his home, regardless to his ethnicity, skin color or background. All are welcome at the Arsenal!
Vast majority of arsenal fans do support him. He also needs to repay our faith with the financial investment made in him. Enough of the silly excuses from fan boys. He needs to perform consistently. We’ve heard he needs a pacy striker when giroud was our 9. We have Aubacazette now…let him start assisting them. Only place that matters most when it comes to answering his doubters is ON THE PITCH…not throuh your PR machine.
I do think it’s bad form not calling Low
How Loew can you go?
We have only one side of the story at the moment.
“Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer have dismissed Ozil’s claims” So, one of the most popular (as much as I understand) characters in the dressing room complains of racist treatment by the German hierarchy after years of loyal service and tremendous success, and his ‘aryan’ team mates hang him out to dry publically. Having lived in Germany for a number of years, as much as people would like you to believe mentalities have changed since you know what, there is still a strong, unpleasant undercurrent of racial superiority which exists. This much is clear from the scale of recent… Read more »
Could be that some of his teammates agree with him, but standing by him might be the end of their international careers and they might not be willing to sacrifice that. Either way, it’s in everyone’s best interest to let this story diffuse so that Ozil can stop being the main topic on the news, and racist pricks can stop using Ozil as propeganda material.
That’s some pretty dangerous assumptions you made there. The whole Ozil issue is a very complicated one , not made any easier by folks like yourself who claims to know that certain players exhibit or show undertones of racial superiority after living in Germany for a ‘few years. Thank goodness this is a football blog , not a politically driven one. In Arsene’s words: ‘I don’t see any difference between black or white. I could never understand that difference. You judge people on facts and on what they did in life. I never considered where you come from or what… Read more »
Well Kronos, Muller and Neuer aren’t helping anyone by going out and completely unnecessarily saying what they’ve said about their teammate- who never included them in his statement. So perhaps they’re not good enough.
Judging by their performances this time around, I’d say it is so.
This is one of Arsene’s greatest quotes because he backed it up with the way he managed over a long career. But it doesn’t really apply to Ozil’s situation. Wenger’s saying we should see the same potential in everyone regardless of background. Everyone as equals. A different response is needed when someone experiences discrimination. What Ozil needed from the DFB and his teammates was for them to *see clearly* that his different background left him vulnerable to racist attacks, and to back him up. Most of them have totally failed to do so, despite Ozil taking full responsibility for fair… Read more »
I wish I could thumb this down twice!
It’s a shame that his teammates came out to defend their team and themselves when he never put any of them on blast. He must have been disappointed at their inclination to not just downplay something that he went through alone, but also the fact that deny his experiences within the set-up. Looking at the players who came out and voiced their opinions on the matter, it is wierd that they can voice judgment as they are not in similar circumstances to Ozil, nationality wise. Colin Kaepernick received the exact same treatment in America from people who do not know… Read more »
German football federation can go and do one.
…and Mesut was right to leave this bunch of clowns unable to take their responsiblities but quick to accuse others.
“…and Mesut was right to leave this bunch of clowns unable to take their responsiblities but quick to accuse others.”
Oh, the irony 🙂
“I am still of the opinion that he was one of the best players we had in Germany in the last 20, 30 years…”
One of the best “in Germany” not one of the best GERMAN players – wasn’t this not relating to him as being German one of the main points Özil raised in his statements?
If you try really hard to find offence, you always will…..
(I’m not saying Ozil hasn’t had reasons to be take offence before anyone has a go but latching on to this almost certainly entirely innocent remark is just silly imo)
Löw described Özil as “einer der besten deutschen Spieler der letzten 20, 30 Jahre”. The literal translation of that is “one of the best German players of the last 20, 30 years”.
Ozil was extremely poor when he played, don’t think that is scapegoating, more of an observation.
Other players were poor too but that shouldn’t disguise the fact that Ozil was donkey shit.
Yes he was poor, but the whole german squad didn’t perform. As a german I can say that it is scapegoating. No one said a word against Müller, Kimmich or Kroos. Löw should start searching the mistakes at his preparation. Obviously Reus wasn’t used to take passes from Özil.
Müller and Kimmich were awful. Müller had clearly been out of form for a while, but Kimmich’s defending and passing (or lack of) was quite unexpected. And yes, Özil was mediocre but the least of Germany’s problems at the WC.
In the South Korea game, Ozil was easily Germany’s best player for most of the match but, yes, he was not much better than mediocre.
Agreed. Isn’t alot of this from Neuer, Muller, etc just ass covering? I mean, look at Uli Hoeness’ comments. He is just so above it all with regards to Ozil’s behavior, that it is almost disgusting. These guys reek of self service to the their federation, when most of them played poorly, or worse yet, gave gutless performances.
I liked what the Guardian said about Hoeness’ comments that Ozil hadn’t been good in years: that he must have been watching from prison, where he spent several years for financial crimes–then was immediately welcomed back to Bayern’s top management.
He still created 13 chances in the 2 matches he played which means he was one of their better players. This is a guy who was German player of the year 5 times so he deserved more respect than he got
that’s all in the past, but this is now
Dropped 6/10s when everyone around him dropped 4s at best.Players might perform poorly but that shouldn’t disguise the fact that Arsenal fans are the best there is,was,will be at over-criticising their own players.Twist the knife and when people leave,shout “WTF,you snake!” aye,nice logic.
You’ve obviously never been to a Chelsea game. I had the misfortune of that & it is way worse than Arsenal.
Their 3 best players at the time (hazard, fabregas & costa) were called rats, snakes etc because they stopped playing for Bourinho. The following season they were loved.
Most football fans are pretty fickle.
‘Arsenal fans are the best there is,was,will be at over-criticising their own players.’
Complete & utter nonsense Tas_Gunner.
Oh..I will take your word for it.thanks for clearing that up!
Glad to be of service.
He was crap tbf but no worse than anyone else. But the likes of Kroos and the DFB calling the photo incident a “distraction” that affected Germany’s performance is beyond pathetic and a clear case of scapegoating. For them to deny that there’s been any racism towards Ozil when he’s clearly been attacked for his heritage is extremely troubling as well.
He created 13 chances in the 2 matches he played so he was not their worst player and certainly you insult is not remotely warranted
Loew is a shit coach too tbh. Germany played awful football at the world cup.
He’s been absolved of any criticism due to the fact that Germany produces amazing talent constantly, which helped them win the world cup.
The guy needs confidence. Having Lacazette and Aubameyang in-front of him should give him plenty of opportunities to do what he does best and create goals to build his confidence. Onwards and upwards.
the guy needs a kick up the arse
We saw that link up in the second goal vs Cardiff – Ozil -> Lacazette -> Aubameyang -> goal. Was a cracker!
So… You took a hit on him when he was down and now are disappointed he doesn’t want to talk to you personally. Well pick it out of your nose and be gone then.
Loew is painfully lacking in self-awareness if he’s genuinely disappointed that Ozil hasn’t returned his calls when neither he, nor any of Ozil’s German teammates (besides Brandt) have stood up for him in regards to the racism allegations, or more generally, being made a scapegoat for Germany’s World Cup performances.
He was probably too busy sniffing his own farts and suchlike
Three games into the season(under a new manager) after the most turbulent summer of his personal/professional career,the shouts have changed from #Istandwithozil to #binthatlazysnowflake.
That’s so so fickle.
You clearly live solely in the on line world. I haven’t heard anything like this at the games; were you to attend, you might be able to agree. Living in your own echo chamber, no doubt you’ll hear what you want.
Oh..mate you are probably the one living under a rock tbh.those words are being used left,right and centre in all across the social media.still,might be deserved from your point of view,that’s why you don’t see what the fuss is about.
Thank you for making my point. Social media versus the people that matter – those who pay to attend.
It’s not 1970.social media holds a hell of a lot more weight.And we are talking on kind of a social platform are we not? why the hell do feel like arguing with people who don’t matter? clearly you KNOW what you say and see is the way things are.Afterall,you are the real un.Don’t waste your time correcting lowlifes,cheers.
He was scapegoated and racially abused because of his Turkish heritage and it’s all played into the hands of some very unsavoury characters on the German far right. The way some of his “teammates” have pathetically thrown him under the bus to save themselves has also been jarring, lost a lot of respect for a lot of them. The DFB’s reputation has also taken a massive hit for the way they’ve handled the whole thing. It’s not all bad though, a lot of people have come to Ozil’s defence, Klopp and Gundogan had great takes on the matter especially. However… Read more »
Germany and Germans (in general) are the least racist countries in EU (speakig from own experience as a eastern europe migrant) and I am in no doubt that public opinion in Germany will go in Oezil’s favour. As I am not in Germany I didn’t get everything that was being said on the issue, has anybody else from Oezil’s “teammate” spoken apart of aforementioned Neuer, Kroos and Mueller?
Who disappointed you most?
least racist?!? lel. either u are trolling or you lived in berlin and never got out of the city. why parties like NPD and AFD even existing, chemnitz 1 week ago?? there is even racism towards people from the DDR. Public opinion goes Özils way?? umm no. Curious who is second if germany is the least racist country? austria? hungary? how do you set the indicator? u’ve been living in all other 27 states to assume that?
Tbh it’s just Kroos’ comments that I had a big issue with, Neuer and Mueller weren’t that bad and even made some interesting points. However, not many of the other players have stuck their head above the proverbial parapet to defend Ozil either, seemingly happy for him to take the flak for a collective failure.
None of that is to say that Germany is especially more racist than any other country though. Even here players like Raheem Sterling and Rhian Brewster have been racially abused very recently.
Given Ozils current form that’s an easy statement for Loew to make.
I want to now see the best of ozil, otherwise his retirement from the German team has no real impact
A huge turning point in Ozil’s career not playing for Germany. Always believed he had been more interested in playing for his national team than playing for the Arsenal.
He really needs to dig in now, or he may end up on the outside looking in for the rest of his playing days.
him not playing for germany wont make any difference to arsenal, because if he don’t want to play, he wont
Think Iwobi caught “Ozil syndrome” as well? wonder why there are no media campaigns hell bent on proving that his absence is a result of a feud too.Oh wait,NOT ENOUGH CLICKS!!
Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, and Manuel Neuer have dismissed Ozil’s claims about racism. And who would know better than them? I wonder why we have not heard the same from Khedira, Boateng, and Rudiger, for example?
I am really glad he never became our manager.
“What Susi says bout Nancy, says more bout Susi than bout Nancy”. There u go Kroos, Hoeneß, Lahm, Grindel, Löw and fans of the german football team. Tbf the media was all on it to make a fuzz about it. In german and also austrian papers there were statements from every bloke whoever kicked a ball, daily. When they get asked: “Do u think the Özil situation has something to do with that the whole german squad played shit?” and they say “maybe, i dont know” the following headline is: “Bloke Incognito says Özil Situation might be the reason the… Read more »
For all his grievances I never saw Ozil mentioning an issue with Low and I think it’s sad of its come to the two of them not speaking to each other anymore.
Manager gets away with playing Max Meyer as striker, who looked about as comfortable playing international football as a cat on a hot tin roof and Kimmich, who played a la Bellerin about 30 yards further up the pitch than he should, then picks on the player had to pick their slack. Ozil seems to have been picked on for being th first player in the world to be unable to get on the end of his own through balls and crosses and put them away….
I will really enjoy not having to worry about him picking up an injury while on international duty. Now if we could just get him to start washing his hands so he stops getting sick all the time!
Someone on here said “when you watch the game you don’t see Ozil but when you watch Ozil you see the whole game”. Spot on for me.
Loew should rather keep a low profile and be glad he was not sacked.
Great he can concentrate on doing well for us. Frankly the addition of Mhkitaryan was a bit irrelevant to our needs. We should have sold Alexis to CIty negating their need for a wide player and giving us freedom of choice to bring in someone like Mahrez instead of confining ourselves to the dictates of the agent. Mhki I feel was in some ways a hedge in case Ozil did not renew. BUT we now have 3 very similar players in Ozil, Ramsey and Mhki with the Welshman yet to commit. I don’t feel we will eventually need all 3… Read more »
If we do not support or appreciate Ozil as AFC fans, he will close the Arsenal door too…
I’ll say amen to that Bloggs ?