Former Germany national team star Michael Ballack reckons Arsenal star Mesut Ozil is not a fighter and does not show enough emotion to be considered a leader.
Ballack made it pretty clear that he would not count on Ozil show leadership qualities towards the younger members of the Germany squad.
The former Chelsea man did not completely write off the playmaker of Turkish origin.
Ballack did highlight Ozil’s strengths and believes Germany should make use of them instead of having false expectations.
“I wouldn’t count on him to be a leader. It wouldn’t help him,” Ballack was quoted as saying in the Express.
“They tried in Germany to give him a bit more responsibility, which turns immediately into a kind of pressure for him. It doesn’t help him.
“He’s happy in his role. Sometimes he could be on another level with his technical ability but he is like he is.”
Ozil played a key role in Germany winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but he has come under fire at times.
There is a perception that he does not try hard enough in some segments of the media.
Ballack does however, believe Ozil can be an important player if Germany hope to defend the trophy.
“There is always an up and down in his performances and it has to do with his personality,” he added.
“When he scores you see he doesn’t really celebrate. He’s calm. He keeps a lot of emotions inside. It’s the same when he plays for Germany. He has these performances where you can’t see him really and he’s not really fighting.
“Everyone has bad games sometimes. When it doesn’t work well you feel it, you can feel after 20 minutes it’s going to be difficult.
“You have to fight against it a little bit, with elbows, and try things to show you want to change things.
“It’s his personality. You can’t ask players for something they perhaps don’t have, because they have other qualities instead.
“Joachim Low understands him really well. They talk. Mostly he delivers for Germany, especially in tournaments. He’s playing in a key role.”
Ozil missed Germany’s last friendly against Saudi Arabia with a knee injury.
The 29-year-old has returned to training and is expected to be match fit in time for the Mexico game on Sunday.
The Arsenal star has 23 goals in 90 international caps for Germany.