Bayern Munich star centre-back Jerome Boateng has questioned the criticism aimed at Arsenal’s star playmaker Mesut Ozil.
Ozil bore the brunt of the majority of the criticism directed at the Germany national team following their World Cup failure.
The German’s crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia after a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of South Korea. In fact, Joachim Low’s side finished bottom of Group F with just three points after three games.
Ozil played the full 90 minutes during both of Germany’s defeats but did create seven-goal scoring chances for his teammates against Korea.
Boateng has defended his teammate following the barrage of criticism aimed at him from the German media and fans.
“Everyone has picked out Mesut Ozil, but that’s not possible, Mesut is a human,” Boateng told the German outlet Welt am Sonntag.
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“The whole team was in charge of our destiny. We’ve not managed to play together at this World Cup. We have to blame ourselves.
“He’s an artist on the ball, not a fighter in the defence like me, so maybe he comes across badly. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to win or he does it on purpose.
“It was a difficult situation for him at the end.
“Of course we’ve spoken. Like all of us, Mesut is extremely disappointed and sad that the World Cup came to an end, but I can hardly put myself in his shoes. We’ve all got to process it.”
Arsenal is expected to return to north London this month to begin preparations for the 2018/19 season.
Ozil registered 14 assists and scored five goals in 35apperances for Arsenal last season.
