Mesut Özil works harder than most people give him credit for according to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
Özil has been criticised for not having the work-rate or physical attributes required for the Premier League but Wenger feels that the World Cup winners work goes unnoticed.
Wenger was quoted by the official Arsenal website as saying: “He works harder than people thinks he does. He is not spectacular in his defending but he wants to do the job, he wants to help the team.”
The Arsenal boss was pleased with Özil’s defensive performance in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on the weekend.
“What I liked in his game today was he made many runs without the ball behind the defenders, which is a bit new as he likes to come with the ball. Today he mixed up his game better,” he added.
Özil provided the assist for Olivier Giroud’s opening goal against Palace and made the most key passes in the Premier League today according to Whoscored.
The 26-year-old has a total of one assist in two league appearances for the Gunners this season. Özil enjoyed a trophy-laden pre-season winning the Asia Barclays Trophy, Emirates Cup and Community Shield.
Arsenal moved into 11th place on three points after two games following the win over Palace and take on Liverpool next in the league at the Emirates.
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