Mesut Ozil

robfosters · 24 Jul 2018 at 14:42

where do you stand on the Mesut Ozil situation? Personally. I feel that he was wrongly vilified for meeting Erdogan. He had a photo with the democratically elected president of the country where he has his roots. Don’t see much wrong with that. He was then crucified by fans and the media for his performances. Personally, I don’t think they were any worse than 90% of the rest of the team, yet he was singled out, mainly because of the Erdogan photo. It’s sad when football fans let their judgements be clouded by things that have nothing to do with football. The fans and the Bayern president then all say he has been rubbish for years. Well they weren’t thinking that when they voted him Germany player of the year for the last five out of six years or something. I believe sadly, football and politics has become blurred and the far right current that is winding its way though Germany right now has seized upon this to try and engineer a pathetic attempt to blame the football teams woes on an immigrant, even though he’s born and bred in Germany. Many German fans atm don’t seem to realise the teams problems run way deeper than one player.

I also feel that actions from certain people who should be more responsible, like the Bayern president, have fallen way below expectation.

I’m glad he’s made a stand, he can’t be treated in a manner of, as he says, German when he wins, an immigrant when he loses. I wouldn’t have completely retired from international football like he has though, always leave that door open, unless he felt offended beyond all recompense.

As an Arsenal fan, I hope now that it finally puts the fire in his belly that I’ve always wanted him to have. I hope he now has a desire more than ever to prove them all wrong in Germany. I hope he does so well, that they come back begging at his door to pull on the German shirt again. He already cut his holiday short to join Arsenal in Singapore, so there’s obviously something driving him on atm. Ozil never been the sort to do that.

What’s FS opinions on this issue? Ozil got a point or is he being, to put it bluntly, a bit of a cry baby.

McBain · 24 Jul 2018 at 15:10

I think it's fair play to him if he wants to retire off the back of a shed load of abuse, whatever the reasons for said abuse.

He's representing his country and has done for years, won the WC, their player of the year multiple times etc.... if I got that much abuse i'd walk away, **** the German fans/media.

Moothead2 · 24 Jul 2018 at 15:13

I think my main problem with the whole situation is that he's not taking any personal responsibility. He's playing the victim card and not giving a second thought as to why people are ****** off with him. Don't get me wrong the racial abuse he's received is completely out of order, but that's a small minority of fans/media. The majority of people have legitimate qualms with the way he's handled the situation without resorting to racism.

I think this post from a German perspective gives some good insight into the feeling in Germany.

As a German with Indian parents I completely understand that Mesut Özil has two hearts and he wants to respect his ancestry. But I'm extremely dissapointed in his statements from the past couple of hours. And while there is definetley truth in him saying that the media did a bad job on the coverage of this story (right-wing propaganda and scapegoating him for Germany's bad performance beacause of his heritage) and I 100% support him on calling out the DFB and Grindel, there was also much ignorance especially in his first two statements.

Özil may not be a politician but years ago he chose to represent Germany on the international level. So everything he does in the public's eye will be judged by the german people. And unlike Lothar Matthäus he didn't resign from his duties as a german international player before the incident. I don't care what he does in private. And no one should. But the photo with President Erdogan was a public act. He didn't apologize for the fact that he took an honoring photo (just a month before the WC) with the leader of a country, which has been in major conflicts with Germany in the past few years. That was an incredibly ignorant thing to do to his german fans, but he also harmed the standing and integration of immigrants or citizens with migrant background in Germany (like myself). The fact that he took that photo proves that he is not aware of his responsibilities and his function as a role model. He also showed that he lives out of touch from reality when he said he only did it to respect the office and he had no political intentions. But he honored Erdogan with a personal gift and therefore endorsed him(that might by a too strong word, but I can't come up with a better one).

The problem is that Özil didn't just bump into him on the streets or at an event, this meeting was set up by him, his management and Erdogan. He could've said no. Instead he agreed to meet a politician, who shares values that are not compatible with the ones shared in Germany. It shows that he (and sadly too many other germans of turkish descent) didn't learn anything from growing up and living in Germany and especially from our history.

It is also dissapoining to see that he at no point disagreed with Erdogans politics. He didn't agree with them either, but that's like closing your eyes and doing nothing while someone is being robbed right in front of you.

Plus the whole thing wasn't even written in german although it being an entirely german problem between him and german football fans. Atleast give us a german translation. This is just disrespectful.

Again I 100% support him on the media and DFB/Grindel and scapegoating issue. He is absolutely right there and I'm sorry to see him retire from the German team because of these issues.

Oh, and to think Erdogan is some clean, democratically elected leader is like same Donald Trump is.

Randomface74 · 24 Jul 2018 at 15:28

Probably felt like he wasted his time with the World Cup, then people flipped out at him over a photo. I'd be telling them where to stick it too tbh.

robfosters · 24 Jul 2018 at 19:42

I know I could be considered bias towards Ozil because of arsenal, but I watched all Germany’s games and I genuinely think he was nowhere near the worst player. Muller was disgustingly poor, and what did Timo Werner bring to the party? Nothing, he was totally ineffective. The fact is, Ozil created the most chances out of the entire Germany team in the World Cup.

sneakysnail · 24 Jul 2018 at 23:12

Meh Ive always disliked Ozil tbh. Gutless with no fight and this is just more of the same from him. He screwed up and got some grief and failed to address it, then it rolled into the world cup where they played poorly. He's getting a lot of crap thrown his way and it's not all been deserved but he's managed the situation poorly and now just throwing his toys out of the pram.

He could try to prove people wrong on and off the pitch but meh. Honestly I think he does feel more Turkish than German and always has. I don't think stepping away from the national side is a huge deal for him.

Yas786 · 25 Jul 2018 at 01:03

sneakysnail said:
Meh Ive always disliked Ozil tbh. Gutless with no fight and this is just more of the same from him. He screwed up and got some grief and failed to address it, then it rolled into the world cup where they played poorly. He's getting a lot of crap thrown his way and it's not all been deserved but he's managed the situation poorly and now just throwing his toys out of the pram.

He could try to prove people wrong on and off the pitch but meh. Honestly I think he does feel more Turkish than German and always has. I don't think stepping away from the national side is a huge deal for him.

Really is that what you believe?? That he feels more Turkish than German??? Has he told you that personally or are you just making stupid baseless assumptions??

Anyhow my feelings are I feel bad for the guy, he’s done nothing wrong other than to pose with the Turkish President. So he gets vilified but yet Gundogan who is also of Turkish descent doesn’t get any if at all any flack.
Also Ozil makes a very good point in that Podolski and Klose, both are polish but German but again they are considered German before polish. It’s quite bizarre really.
I think what the Bayern president said was stupid and ill advised. Plus he can talk the day ****, wasn’t he jailed for some dodgy behaviour?? Money laundering or something of that sort.

I absolutely loved Ozil’s agents response to the Bayern President, pretty much told him to go **** himself lol.

But now that he has retired, I’m hoping he concentrates more for Arsenal this season and shows everyone up in his performances on the pitch.

Idleman · 25 Jul 2018 at 08:53

Boo Hoo, poor Ozil.

sneakysnail · 25 Jul 2018 at 08:55

Yas786 said:
Really is that what you believe?? That he feels more Turkish than German??? Has he told you that personally or are you just making stupid baseless assumptions??
/QUOTE]
Just going by what we know. When he's not in England with arsenal he's in Turkey with his miss Turkey fiance. He's living out there now isn't he? He hasnt lived in Germany for a long time. He has also never sung the national anthem when playing for Germany etc and shows support for erdogan. If Turkey was the bigger footballing country I'm sure he would be playing for them rather than Germany.

Also being Muslim he probably feels a bit more at home culturally in Turkey also.

robfosters · 25 Jul 2018 at 09:03

Idleman said:
Boo Hoo, poor Ozil.

Very insightful, thanks for that.

A2Z · 25 Jul 2018 at 22:56

"Poor excuse for a footballer" sums him up perfectly.

Yas786 · 25 Jul 2018 at 23:27

A2Z said:
"Poor excuse for a footballer" sums him up perfectly.

Yeh someone who has won the WC compared to say Messi or Ronaldo but yeh useless footballer right??

What an brilliant summation of Özil by you. Evidently you think that it’s perfectly ok for the German Football Association to be overtly racist towards him and blame him for all the problems Germany had this past WC right?? When in reality it was the team as a whole who were poor excuses for footballers

. Also he had created the most chances in the WC this year so yeh poor excuse for a footballer...

A2Z · 25 Jul 2018 at 23:41

Yas786 said:
Also he had created the most chances in the WC this year so yeh poor excuse for a footballer...

Do you have a source for that?

Idleman · 26 Jul 2018 at 03:47

Per Opta Joe, Ozil actually created more chances (5.5) per 90 minutes than any other players at the 2018 World Cup finals. I find it hard to believe he created more chances than any other player in the WC, when he only played 2 games.

https://www.givemesport.com/1358727...-emerge-after-he-quits-international-football

View image on Twitter

robfosters · 26 Jul 2018 at 06:39

Ozil was doing his job this year, it’s his teammates that were letting him down. There has also been a horrible silence from them over this issue. They’re probably scared to come out in support of him, in case it jeopardises their own international career.

FrankJH · 27 Jul 2018 at 09:05

Who cares what footballers politics are - even if they are mixed race / heritage?

What matters is the performace on the pitch and Ozil wasn't the worst German in the team by any means, and the whole 23 man squad + management should be held at fault, not just one player.

Yeah ok its poor timing on his part just before the WC, but if that's his worst "crime" then its a lot of **** over nothing. If the German FA etc are willing to continually select these players they really shouldn't criticize when the politics don't agree. When he plays well he is German, when he doesn't play so well he is Turkish....sorry that's jus BS

Im no fan of Ozil, but on this the only thing he can really be criticized for is the timing aspect, and imo its always best to be open about these things

Purdy · 27 Jul 2018 at 09:22

FrankJH said:
Who cares what footballers politics are - even if they are mixed race / heritage?

A lot of people?

This guy is representing one country and is supporting a leader of another who has attacked the west (and specifically the country he represents) and increased tensions, even had bodyguards assaulting protestors in the US.

VermilionChaos · 27 Jul 2018 at 09:23

If the allegations are true, the he did right to walk away from Ze Germans. Hundreds of other mixed heritage players have gone on and played great careers and left it at that, even with pictures being taken with dignitary's and it's never been an issue before. As a fan of football in general (Blackburn Fan) it'd be great to see Ozil playing as we all know he can, it'd be wonderful to see how disgruntled Ze German FA would be seeing he's playing as well as ever but won't for that team anymore.

Yas786 · 28 Jul 2018 at 13:04

Purdy said:
A lot of people?

This guy is representing one country and is supporting a leader of another who has attacked the west (and specifically the country he represents) and increased tensions, even had bodyguards assaulting protestors in the US.

Where has he said he supports Erdogan??

All he did was have a picture taken, he didn’t make any statement saying he supports Erdogan or if he I’ve missed it.

Funny how he is singled out but Gundogan, another German/Turkish player who also had his picture taken at the same time, doesntvget crucified like Özil did.

Funnily enough the German FA President has now said he regrets what he said about Özil originally.

sneakysnail · 28 Jul 2018 at 13:42

Yas786 said:
Where has he said he supports Erdogan??

All he did was have a picture taken, he didn’t make any statement saying he supports Erdogan or if he I’ve missed it.

Funny how he is singled out but Gundogan, another German/Turkish player who also had his picture taken at the same time, doesntvget crucified like Özil did.

Funnily enough the German FA President has now said he regrets what he said about Özil originally.

Ozil was singled our because he failed to address it and just ignored it. Gundogan came out expressed some regret about it saying it wasn't meant as a political statement. Ozil has said nothing apart from that he has no regrets about it.

Also surely the fact that Gundogan hasn't really taken much flak over this proves it's not a race thing? It's a character thing, people have always questioned Ozils character or lack of and it probably won't be the last time.