Former Arsenal goalkeeper and Germany international Jens Lehmann has revealed his opinion regarding Mesut Ozil’s performance at the 2018 World Cup.
Ozil played the full 90 minutes during Germany’s defeats to South Korea and Mexico.
Germany crashed out of the World Cup after finishing bottom of Group F.
Lehmann believes Ozil’s injury-hit season impacted the star playmaker’s performances for Germany at the World Cup.
“Obviously I saw that (criticism) from a very close distance last year,” Lehmann told talkSPORT.
“And what comes out is that if you want to play a good World Cup it doesn’t start two or three weeks before the World Cup.
“It starts actually at the beginning of the season ahead of the World Cup. You need to find your rhythm you need to have a good pre-season.
“You need to practice a lot, you need to participate in training sessions, and unfortunately Mesut has been prone to injury quite a lot.
“I remember the last three games for Arsenal he couldn’t play and he couldn’t even train.
“In January and February in the winter he didn’t have a lot of training sessions.
“And so if a player goes into a tournament like that then it’s always a small disadvantage.”
Lehmann worked with Ozil throughout the season while working as a coach at Arsenal.
Ozil has been heavily criticised by fans and pundits in Germany following the national team’s exit. However, the former Real Madrid star was one of Germany’s better performer against South Korea.
The 29-year-old created seven goal-scoring chances but his teammates were unable to convert on each occasion.
Lehmann parted company with Arsenal over the summer following Arsene Wenger’s resignation.
Ozil recently penned a new contract with the Gunners and is expected back in north London next month to begin preparations for the 2018/19 season.
