Nacho Monreal Blasts Mesut Ozil’s Critics For Inventing Stories About Him

Arsenal full-back Nacho Monreal has accused Mesut Ozil’s critics of inventing stories about him

Mesut Ozil has endured a difficult start to the season and The Arsenal boss Unai Emery has urged him to work harder in matches.

The 29-year-old often finds his passive body language interpreted as a lack of effort but Monreal leapt to his team-mate’s defence.

“People must understand that every player is completely different,” said the Spaniard. “He is like that [quiet] and 10 years ago he was the same. So you can’t expect on the pitch that he starts to fight, to talk with the referee because he never did it. He is not going to change in this case.

“The important thing is he plays at his highest level, gives a lot of assists, scores a lot of goals and basically helps the team. That’s what he knows. He doesn’t know how to go up to a player and grab him by the throat.”

The former German international was reportedly involved in a training ground bust-up with Emery after learning he would not be starting last month’s Premier League match against West Ham.

The club denied any suggestion of a disagreement and Monreal added: “People have been a bit unfair with him. He is a very famous player and obviously people love talking about him. Recently, it is always bad things. Like last time, he was sick and that’s why he didn’t play.

“People started to invent that he had a problem with the manager. It wasn’t like that. He got a cold, he was sick, that’s it. That’s why he didn’t play.”