Mesut Ozil has always been a bit like Marmite since joining Arsenal, you either love him or hate him there does not seem to be much middle ground.
Ozil still managed to end up getting criticised despite putting on a brilliant display against Watford on the weekend.
The playmaker of Turkish origin reached his 50 assist milestone setting up Shkodran Mustafi with the opener.
The 29-year-old also managed to become the quickest player to 50 assists in Premier League history, breaking Eric Cantona’s record.
That was not enough to escape ESPN FC pundit Alejandro Moreno who said that it was all well and good playing against Watford but that he does not perform in the big games.
“Nobody has ever questioned that Mesut Ozil is a tremendous talent,” he said.
“But you don’t see that talent on display in important matches.
“You don’t see that talent on display consistently for Arsenal.
“You see it and when you see it, you’re like ‘wait a minute, this guy’s got something special’ and we all know he’s got something special. But we’d like to see more of it, that’s all.”
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To be fair Ozil did put on a brilliant display in the 2-0 win over AC Milan at the San Siro Stadium last week.
The star playmaker has the chance to prove himself in another big game when Arsenal take on AC Milan for the return leg.
Winning the Europa League is currently the most realistic chance Arsenal have of booking a place in the Champions League next season.
Liverpool legend Steve Nicol was featuring on the ESPN show alongside Moreno did however, defend Ozil and underline that his teammates are often to blame.
“What Ale is suggesting, some people might think he is not putting it in and he’s not doing it enough,” Nicol said.
“But it’s a team game, you need 11 players. He’s a guy that if you put him with 10 other players, you’ll see all the qualities that he has.
“And the fact that Arsenal have been struggling and he gets to those numbers, that tells you that he’s doing what he’s paid to do. You can’t blame him.”
