Ljungberg Defends Ozil Against Arteta

Freddie Ljungberg has questioned Arteta’s shunning of Mesut Ozil.

The former Arsenal player has stated that there aren’t “many better in the world” as Mesut Ozil.

He told Sky Sports of a long-running saga in north London: “When you have a player like that, and I don’t say he should play every single week, but when you have possession and you need to find that cute pass, I don’t think there are any better players than Mesut doing that.

“Of course you lose a bit defensively, but it’s a decision they’ve made. I don’t know why the decision’s been made and he’s outside the 25-man squad, so they can’t use him.

“But for those things, I don’t think there are many better in the world.”

He added in the wake of a 2-0 derby defeat to arch-rivals Tottenham: “For me, in general terms, it’s just a little bit slow.

“If they could just go into general games, not just this game, with a bit of a higher passing tempo, go a bit quicker.

“You saw when they had success last season a few times, it went quite quick into [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and he opened up his legs, he had space to run in, so maybe passing a bit quicker.

“Then of course it depends how you set up the team. Arsenal, they played with a five, then only with two midfielders and that showed they couldn’t have a creative midfielder in the team really because they were just working really hard in midfield.

“He’s now changed to a back four and they will have a 10, I think [Alexandre] Lacazette played that role [against Spurs], so I think he’s trying to mix it up to have a bit of that creativity in the middle of the park.

“But as you see the stats don’t really lie.”

See More: Top 10 Arsenal Most Expensive Signings Ever: Players Signed 2020!