Ilkay Gundogan on Ozil: Man City star defends Mesut Ozil before clash against Arsenal

Ilkay Gundogan on Ozil: Arsenal will take on Manchester City in the Premier League later tonight.

Arsenal will take on Manchester City in the heavyweight league clash tonight.

The game is hugely significant for both the sides. While a City win would bridge the gap between them and Liverpool to two points, a result in favour of Arsenal would help Unai Emery’s aim for a top-four finish.

The relationship between Emery and Mesut Ozil has been subject to speculation in the English media.

Ozil started in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Cardiff City earlier this week but has had limited game-time in the last few weeks. While the Arsenal head coach has often cited ‘tactical reasons’ for not including Ozil in his XI, speculations on the midfielder’s future at the club have significantly increased.

Ilkay Gundogan, who has been Ozil’s teammate with the German national team, has now spoken about the midfielder.

Ilkay Gundogan on Ozil:

The Manchester City star called Mesut Ozil a ‘game-changer’ in an interview with Sport360.

“Both [Ozil and De Bruyne] are game changers,” Gundogan said.

“Kevin is a little bit more aggressive in his style and, at Mesut’s best, both are on a similar level.”

Gundogan stated that the Arsenal midfielder is misunderstood on the football field.

“I think people always criticise Mesut because they think his attitude on the pitch is not a good one, that he doesn’t care that much.

“But I think people just struggle to accept that you can have the more emotional kind of players, the more aggressive ones and you have players like him, you know, that need maybe this calmness for their game.

“It looks a bit more elegant and slow, but believe me it’s so difficult to defend against these kind of players. They make everything look so easy and I think sometimes you forget to appreciate these kind of things.”

The Manchester City footballer also took a dig at Unai Emery for not playing Ozil regularly at Arsenal.

“A player like him, with his huge talent, I don’t think it just surprises just me, but a lot of people, that he doesn’t play regularly.

“Of course I have sympathy for him. Also, because I know the more regularly you play, the easier it is because you have the rhythm and just keep going and you don’t think about certain things too much.”