Wenger has criticised Ozil for being in ‘comfort zone’ – but he put him into one

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Arsene Wenger feels that Mesut Ozil is in something of a ‘comfort zone’ at present for Arsenal, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Ozil has been out of favour under Wenger’s successor as Gunners manager, Unai Emery, this season and the Frenchman has given his view on why that is.

Wenger, speaking at a Q&A session in Monaco, said of Ozil: “Most of the time now we think when we sign a player for five years we have a good player for five years. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they practice, they play their best. Because they might be in their comfort zone.”

But it was Wenger who was in charge when the German World Cup winner signed that long-term deal last season, so if Ozil is in a comfort zone, then it’s his former manager who must take a lot of the blame.

The length of that contract has created an issue for Emery – arguably the biggest one he faces as he looks to turn Arsenal around.

Ozil has such stability and it would be so hard to shift him that he feels he has a lot of power in the standoff. And because Emery doesn’t appear to see how he can fit Ozil into his high-octane game, there’s an impasse.

Wenger created that problem and left it for his successor to inherit. So while his closeness to the situation at Arsenal means his assessment is likely to be accurate, he shouldn’t be criticising Ozil because he is partly responsible for his problems.