Craig Bellamy has slammed Mesut Ozil’s display in Germany’s draw with England and believes the Arsenal midfielder is setting a bad example for his nation’s younger players.
England held the world champions to a goalless draw at Wembley on Friday evening, while Ozil delivered a solid display in central midfield.
But Bellamy was unhappy with the 29-year-old’s effort levels and feels some England players looked better because of the midfielder’s supposed lethargy.
‘We know Ozil doesn’t run a lot, we know he doesn’t track back. He’s driving me up the wall every time I’m watching him,’ the former Liverpool and Manchester City striker told beIN Sports.
‘Yeah, [Harry] Maguire did well, do you know why? Because he kept running past [Ozil]. He didn’t want to track him back. It’ll be a better test for [Maguire] when he’s not playing against Ozil again because he’ll have someone who’ll actually work back against him.
‘He was given responsibility in a key position today.
‘If [Ilkay] Gundogan goes over to the left-hand side, you have to tuck in because you’re then playing the role of defensive midfielder. [Ozil is] walking into position.
‘I thought he was so disappointing today with young players [around him]. I just think that as a World Cup winner, he could have taken more responsibility.
‘We know there’s more, we’ve all seen more, and I just feel at this present moment that he’s not showing us what he’s capable of and it is annoying.’
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