Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has defended club-record signing Mesut Ozil and begged the club’s fans to get behind the German international.
The former Real Madrid playmaker has been largely criticised since he arrived at the Emirates stadium last summer, being discussed heavily by former German midfielder Michael Ballack in detail following the 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund earlier this week.
Ballack’s comments claimed that Ozil had ‘made a mistake’ signing for Arsenal but boss Wenger has firmly backed the midfielder to come good at the club.
“Fans need to be patient. You want your best players in every game but you have to be united and go through hard periods,” said the Frenchman to the media.
“Why should Ozil be a scapegoat? For what? We lost one game since the beginning of April. We had very difficult games against teams like Besiktas.
“Everybody judges players on one game but football is played with many ups and downs.
“The criticism is unfair because it’s post-World Cup. It takes a few months for them to get back to their best.”
Wenger went on to confirm that Calum Chambers and Mathieu Flamini would be available to face Aston Villa this coming weekend, before discussing Mathieu Debuchy’s injury.
“We’ll know about Debuchy tonight after his examination whether he’ll need surgery,” revealed Wenger. “If he doesn’t need surgery, it’ll be six weeks. If he does need surgery, it will be three months.”