Mesut Ozil reveals how he deals with critics

World Cup winner Mesut Ozil has revealed how he deals with criticism, saying that the only opinions that truly matters to him are his manager’s (via Arsenal.com). The German playmaker, who joined Arsenal in the 2013-14 season, is in the form of his life at the moment, but has faced a lot of criticism in the past from mainstream media outlets.

Ozil has been a controversial figure ever since he made the move to Arsenal, and not through any fault of his own. He split opinion greatly during his early days at the club, with many failing to actually understand his game. He has often been accused of being lazy and not living up to his price tag over the past couple of seasons, as the German sometimes struggled to adapt to the Premier League and Arsenal. The critics, however, failed to mention how Ozil was often being used out of position on the left wing as Arsene Wenger tried different approaches to get all his attacking talent to play together.

Now that the manager has allowed Ozil to settle into his preferred No. 10 role, the German is answering his critics loud and clear, leading the assist charts in the Premier League with 12 so far this season (via Whoscored).

“I’ve been playing for a long time, I’ve been in the game for a long time, ever since I was young. When I played well I was praised and if I didn’t I was criticised, but the main thing is what the manager thinks about me,” Ozil told Arsenal Player.

“Football is a day-to-day business. You can play really well in one game, and then not as well in the next. You just deal with it yourself. I don’t look at what the media says because I’m playing really well at the moment. Everything is working really well. It’s not important what others think.

“I never look at what people write about me. I just deal with my performances myself. My goal has always been to do my work and then when I am at home I don’t have to think about football. The best lesson in my life is from my parents. They’ve taught me to always be down to earth and always take people as they come, whether people criticise you or are nice to you. They taught me that and that’s how I try to lead my life.”

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Ozil is a world class talent who can single-handedly change the course of a game. He has done this for Arsenal in the past as well, and several times this season. Despite this, the pundits seem to focus on him in particular, perhaps because of the transfer fee paid to Real Madrid for his services. Whatever the reason, the 27-year-old has answered his critics ten times over this season, and hopefully he is able to continue playing the top quality football he has shown us so far throughout the campaign.