Mesut Ozil has been accused of having ‘downed tool’s at Arsenal by former Gunner Martin Keown, but the stats suggest otherwise.
According to numbers from Orbinho, there is minimal difference between some of Oil’s key running stats this season in comparison to team-mate Alexis Sanchez, who gets significantly less flak for his application than his German colleague.
Ozil has long been branded lazy by fans and pundits alike during his career in north London, despite proving a key part of Arsene Wenger’s squad since his arrival in 2013.
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Keown has become the latest to join in the Ozil-bashing, telling BBC 5 Live he felt the 28-year-old had already mentally left the club.
‘I think in some departments he’s already left. Psychologically, mentally, he’s already left the football club,’ Keown was quoted on the Metro.
‘Sanchez is different. He loves playing football, just give him a ball and he’ll play and that’s all he wants to do. But Ozil, I think he’s downed tools, he wants to go and it’s going to get messy.’
Still, the stats prove Ozil has spent less time walking and jogging than Sanchez so far this season, and actually boasts better numbers in terms of running and sprinting.
Özil v Alexis PL 2017-18
% time walking 5% v 7%
% time jogging 59% v 67%
% time running 33% v 24%
% time sprinting 3% v 2%#downedtools— Orbinho (@Orbinho) October 5, 2017
The portrayal of Ozil as lazy may not be that accurate after all – or at least, if he is, Sanchez surely deserves the same criticism levelled his way.