Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil has come under fire from sections of the media for his lack of physicality but it appears they may have got him all wrong.
According to Arsenal former director of high performance, Darren Burgess Ozil actually is physically elite and he explained why.
Burgess revealed that the playmaker of Turkish origin is a lot better at the physical side of the game than his critics believe.
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Ozil often gets accused of not trying hard enough due to his body language and languid playing style but Burgess feels this is an unfair characterization.
“Mesut is much-maligned physically,” Burgess told The Athletic.
“But there were many games where his running numbers — and I’m talking high-speed numbers, not just distance but high-speed numbers — were among the elite in the competition. So he’s certainly capable of doing it.”
Burgess spent time with Ozil and the Arsenal players in general on a day-to-day basis so is probably in the best position to comment on the physicality of his former players.
Ozil struggled for playing time under the stewardship of former Arsenal manager Unai Emery but has since returned to regular first-team football featuring in all seven games since Mikel Arteta was appointed head coach.
