As a man who has followed Arsenal very closely during most of my life, I was hyped to see Ozil arrive to the club. But to me, Ozil was a player that needed to be surrounded by a few other world class players to succeed. He is the assist king. Not a natural-born scorer. His passes were on point, but he did not always have the best players to follow on his passes. At least that's how I felt growing up as a teen and watching the team.
Ozil and Sanchez had a good partnership at Arsenal. I think Ozil's "decline" started after Sanchez left to United. Along with Cazorla who always kept the area behind Ozil save (mostly).
@Abdul Raheem well that is just not true tho, he played 13 matches after making comments against chinas regime. Most people don’t actually recognize this, but he was dropped because he played bad consistently and wasn’t a good team player
I disagree with this video. You cannot say he fell when the club finished 8th twice in a row after getting rid of him. Same with Aubamayeng. It's just the club being good at finding scapegoats
@@maisman5079 Remember the premier league got into horrid financial trouble and was shut down for a while with Covid after that. Arsenal was in financial disarray. China refused to sell arsenal match AND promote arsenal if Ozil wasn’t left out. And tbh his performances weren’t even that bad. If he was left out because of ability I don’t see why other players like Chaimbers, luiz, Xhaka were put in.
I'd say he peaked in 15/16 when he almost broke the assist record, however he's become a victim of the changes in football in recent years where the sole No 10 player has been phased out and everyone now plays high press with 8/10 hybrids.
Modric, Xavi, Gundogan, Xabi Alonso and others really ruined the game for MDs who can't press, defend, bounce from box to box, assist and score at the same time.
Mesut Özil peaked in 2011/12 when Real Madrid won La Liga with ease. But less then 2 years later he signed for Arsenal and his decline started from then on.
I disagree with this video. You cannot say he fell when the club finished 8th twice in a row after getting rid of him. Same with Aubamayeng. It's just the club being good at finding scapegoats
Do a video on Karim Benzema. He was super underrated during Ronaldo’s time in Madrid and now people are finally appreciating him. The man is going through his second prime
Benzema has blown me away. I was driving and listening to PSG v. Real Madrid, so when PSG scored and I arrived at my destination I didn’t feel so bad missing the second half. 3 huge huge goals. Demonstrating both the ability to be there for the easy goal and create for himself. Huge.
Mesut Ozil was one of the most talented players/midfielders of his generation, the ammouny of assists he got are insane, and if only his prime would have been longer, he would be reagrded as one of the greatest to do it
I disagree with this video. You cannot say he fell when the club finished 8th twice in a row after getting rid of him. Same with Aubamayeng. It's just the club being good at finding scapegoats
Özil plays a role (advanced playmaking CAM) that has sort of been phased out over the last 5 seasons. He was a skilled player but he was never all that physically gifted in terms of pace or strength. A couple of injuries cost him whatever speed he had left which definitely affected his overall game. Still, he was a one of a kind player and I miss watching him play. He's one of those players who could regularly lift entire stadiums out of their seats without scoring a goal.
He was actually quite quick in his earlier years (werder bremen, Real Madrid days). Seems like a bad injury or two slowed down his pace (and also his amazing dribbling) but that didn’t stop his playmaking ability.
too lazy, disengaged and no killer instinct. he was incredible in 2010 world cup, but a complete waste of talent right after. as a coach I absolutely hate players like this. utter frustration.
@@marciukspuks5353 lazy💀, premiere league was always physical and modern than tactical. And Ozil was never a player to play for Premiere league, he was slow not because he is lazy because the other are faster and he is not physical. Anyone would know that and if I was a manager then I would dance everyday, one of the greatest player not even trying.
@@areyoudumbonpurpose1822 you basically agreed with me and called him soft. i have players on my team that are absolutely talented but soft and and in so many words lazy, in other words much more concerned with how they "look" rather than how they play. good comparison to ozil is muller - much less talented but enormously more important to the team.
Very good vid. I was unaware that he was so charitable. I remember getting mad at him when I saw "El Chucky" Lozano easily dribble past him to score vs Germany in the world cup. However, I also felt that he was unfairly thrown under the bus multiple times. The way he refused a pay cut now seems totally reasonable, and that he had the balls to stand up to china was admirable.
You forgot to mention that Madrid didn't want to sell him. But by the end of 12/13 season, Ozil's father wanted Perez to increase Ozil's salary and make him joint top earner of the team. Perez declined and this deteriorated the relationship btw perez and Ozil's agent (his father). Thus, he warned that if his demands aren't met, his son will leave Madrid. So, club officials had to sell him.
Is this a fact? My understanding was Madrid had to sell either Di Maria or Ozil to balance the books (due to FFP) after splurging on Bale. Ancelotti wasn't too impressed by Ozil's nonchalant attitude and once Wenger got wind of the news Ozil was available, Madrid took the offer.
this also had to do with the "dying" of the traditional no.10 role , and Ozil is one of them. Even at Madrid, Ozil rarely do the press or tracking of the ball. He got Khedira and Xabi to do that for him so he could stay up and focus on creating chances. At Arsenal, he has players like Cazorla, Elneny, and Coquelin to protect him. And later on after the departure of Cazorla, Ramsey, Coquelin, and Elneny (on loan), Ozil finally loses the protection he had in the midfield and that's when he started under-performing. He has to do what he never did before, to press, defend, and tracking, he lost his stamina before the full 90 minutes and often had to be subbed off or start from the bench.
@@Souu998 I can tell you only watched ozils highlights. When people call him lazy it’s because he flails his arms around when opposition beat his press, or he doesn’t cover a passing channel like he’s supposed to. When KDB says they know he doesn’t do these things and they take advantage of it, what does that tell you? The Özil I enjoyed watching was very different to the one that everyone defends to this day.
All flair players are called lazy at some stage in their career.... Zidane, pirlo, Ronaldinho, Ozil. This is why team construction is very vital in all successful teams. Pair up the flair player with someone strong to do the dirty work... Zidane had Makalele, Kaka had gattuso, Lampard had Ballack and so on. Teams should be nurtured like a garden with pieces that fit their best and not cobbled together and held by force with nails
@@isaabdullahi9097 Ozil isn't even in the same class as those players. Ozil was not labelled lazy unjustly, let me ask you like I asked the OP. Did you actually watch the guy play? Are you suggesting that the people who did watch him play week in week out, the managers and coaches that watched him train, day in day out, don't get the game?
The guy every striker wished to play together with. For me he will always be the assist king ! Danke, für deinen Beitrag zum WM Sieg in Brasilien, Mesut.
It's a really interesting video but my memory of his Arsenal career is a bit different. He was a brilliant player up until around 2017-18, where the squad as a whole was also falling apart a bit. You noted that he was criticized in the past, but I think you underplayed just how much pressure he was under at arsenal. Even when he was on form and performing at his best, he was constantly under scrutiny for his lack of defensive contributions, or lack of distance run. Whenever arsenal won, he was the savior, but when they lost he was often deemed the culprit. The expectations for the club were higher, perhaps raised when he was signed. Many fans and media believed Arsenal were title challengers and should perhaps be winning the league, even though the squad was probably overperforming for a few seasons. And when the results started to drop, Ozil was ostracized. His controversies around China and Turkey also definitely contributed to this, but I would think that some of this criticism played at least some part in his drop off.
As an Arsenal fan, love the guy. I remember that goal he scored in the champions league. I even remember when he did that celebration with the M. He made me change the way I saw the game and even wanted his cleats. I enjoyed more Alexis but mesut stayed through the bad and the good and for that he is an ARSENAL LEGEND
I was lucky enough to see him play at his peak, he could do more in five our six touches of the ball than most players could do in a whole match. Things turned sour but he still had a great career on balance.
As a dortmund fan.I will really appreciate if you do a video about klopp's dortmund.He build an exciting young team and was very successful from 2010 to 2013
One of the most situations in the last years for a plyer needed to be discussed and from you that's something to watch of course, you told it right and got eyes open for different points of view Keep going as usual
Even as a Barca fan he was one of my favorite player in the world, I feelt really bad for him when I heard the news about he being a racism victim from his own country' people after knowing ALL the thing that he did for his country. Its just, doesn't really make any sense.
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 why do you have to bring politicians in a video about a footballer? Are you THAT obsessed with politic?🤣 I don't like any of those people but I respect other people's choice as long as it doesn't have a massive impact on humanity. You're saying those people are murderous as if 80% of world's leaders do anything when Syrian, Palestinian and Rohingyan people got murdered, raped and even tormented to death. Ozil deserve better and you should know it.
@@aye2you ozil is the one who brought politics by backing a autocratic murder as "his president " instead of angela merkel, you know the leader of the country he LIVED in
U gotta fell bad for him, he seems such a good guy even tho im Barca fan and i hated his guts during his days in Madrid, probably top 5 or top 3 playmakers of the 2010s decade
I’m a Barca fan too but for some reason I can’t hate him, I’ve always just been so amazed of him and he’s one of my favourite players and yea I fell real bad actually but at those times when Wenger coached I felt like everything was fine but then after that it didn’t really go that well if I’m sure
Özil was one of my favorite players specially when it comes to midfielders in recent years, the vision this guy had was something else. Unfortunately he was a part of my cursed Arsenal team front five from FIFA 14 that consisted of Arda Turan, Özil, Bale, Hazard and Balotelli. All of them had their glories but never reached their full potential.
@@saidmahad6056 i dont think that ozil fully fulfilled his potential due to him being a victim of the changing of tactics which made his position redundent
I wish he had joined a top team to stayed at Madrid rather than joining Arsenal. Arsenal was a decent team but not a top team; they had some good players and a lot of average ones. If u have the right players around Ozil, he will give u the most assists every season, like he did in Real Madrid. He’s not a compete enough player to do everything, but his vision, skill and playmaking was (and still is) some of the best we’ve ever seen.
Good video. It still doesn't make sense to me why he was sold from Madrid, especially after achieving the most assists 3 years in a row. Luka Modric has been outstanding for Madrid so they brought in a good replacement. I wish you spoke more on how he is currently performing at Fenerbache. It seems as soon as a player leaves the top 5 leagues all news about them dries up unless you go out of your way to research it.
He was right with every decision he took. At least he had the balls to do whatever he did. Most of us would want to stand up against the bad things in this world, but we would not be the first one to stand up, we will follow if someone else leads. Well Arsenal did the same thing, they don't really care about this war, its because everyone else is doing they are doing it. Simple as that. I am an Arsenal fan and I would never forget the deadline day we signed him and him making an assist on his first game against sunderland. Always been a Mesut fan, a class player.
What a player ... the vision of an eagle with the delicate touch of a loving mother, and the defending of, well a chair or a bucket i suppose, but his passing ability is unreal. Would happily welcome him at United.
He was a waste of talent plain and simple. He was clearly a world class player but if he had any sort of work ethic or mental toughness, there wouldn't be any doubt surrounding him. He was lazy, arrogant and never performed in the big games (at least club wise). I've read alot of comments saying he was discriminated against by arsenal/germany but none about his fenerbahçe release. The dude is a self righteous fraud and proved that he was a luxury player with the inability to adapt
As a German I feel bad for him. Every German loved him when he played good but I still remember when he played bad everyone was Insulting him, being racist and really disrespective. Sad to see what happend to him :(
That’s the biggest bullshit of a comment I have read in a long ass time. Germans weren’t racist at all, German society wanted him to clearly speak out on wich political site he was standing on. the German democracy ore the controversial Turkish policy. He didn’t and that’s why so many people went against him.
@@RJ-dw4jw and stupid people believe those words. He was loved by Germans for over 10 years but put his self into that position. Take other players as a example Boateng, klose , podolski etc nobody treated them like foreigners because they knew how to show loyalty and commitment forwards there country. Playing the racist card every time Germans say something against people with a foreign background is the biggest bitch move u can bring.
I think Ozil got his comments wrong. It's not about being German when he wins and a Turk when loses, but rather being German when it suits him and being a Turk at other times. The guy has confirmed his loyalty and love towards Turkey and its president multiple times, so people just need to accept it. He is a Turkish Turk, devout muslim, fan of Erdogan, Fenerbahce and of the Turkish military who happens to hold a German passport.
I'll never forget him in the south Africa world cup. I'm not a fan of regular club football but I always watch the world cup, and he was one of my favorite players then.
Ozil came and conquered. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and when I'll be old he will be in the Classic 11 squad
i feel like ozil is an interesting case for multiple reasons, most apparent of which are his young age(being only 33, but it feels like hes 35+ from how long hes been about), and also his just complete obsoletion as a player. definitely similar burnout to what we saw with wayne rooney, but i also couldnt help but think that he was a player stuck in the past after alexis left arsenal. alexis covered up ozils flaws in the modern game quite well, and allowed him someone to operate in tandem with. whilst before alexis came in mesut could operate on his own as youd expect from a classical 10, as time, and the game, progressed he could no longer do so and we saw fhat when alexis was injured//benched at times. theres no doubt in my mind that had he moved to say juve or inter, he couldve flourished after the transition of the game itself, but he got stuck in a rut at the emirates. as a result what shouldve been a storied, trophy laden career for a man who is arguably among the best passers of the ball that this world has ever seen, piqued far too soon and will always be a what if. on his day ozil was for me on par with the likes of kroos, david silva, and xavi when it came to feel for the game and ability to pick out a pass; not to mention his wand of a right foot. world class player, diminished to less than an afterthought.
Mesut Ozil was one of the most beautiful football player ever existed. Pure magic ... People love Zidane and Ronaldinho but nobody gives enough credit to this amazing talent actually amazes me. He was pivotal for 2014 Germany World Cup winning squad. But nobody gives enough credit to him even they always insult him. Which actually was the main reason for his downfall
Özil's relationship with Arsene Wenger, though fruitful, wasn't without its frictions. Özil reportedly sat out voluntarily for away games against physical, defensive, Northern opponents - and Wenger always covered for him, citing niggling injuries. Whether this is fully true or not is speculation, but a pattern emerged in Özil's Arsenal career that he was notably absent from the squad for matches against opponents like Stoke fairly frequently. Unai Emery did not cotton to this expectation of treatment and sympathetic covering-for, and it culminated in Özil's substitution for 18-year-old Joe Willock in the 2018 Europa League final, when Özil famously erupted against Emery on the bench, saying "you are not a coach" and being caught on camera doing so. Emery, grasping at straws when his attack sputtered in 2019, reinstated Özil to the lineup, and effectively undermined his own authority in the dressing room, such that the team visibly downed tools before his dismissal. An interesting point about Özil's Islamic faith: he had many fellow Muslims in the dressing room at the time, including Mustafi, Kolasinac, and Elneny. Özil's status as a star player and his relative leadership position saw a clique in the team form around him, comprised of Mustafi/Kolasinac/Sokratis, and Arteta saw the influence of these players - and their extremely uneven performances - as a malign factor in his team rebuild. Özil, as a frozen-out player, elicited much sympathy from this group, which pitted them against the manager. It is no coincidence that all of the aforementioned players (as well as Willian, and now Aubameyang) have been paid by Arsenal to go away as part of a dressing room clean-out. Of course, this has to do with trimming the wage bill, but Arteta has a rigid set of expectations for his players, and will not countenance any challenge to his authority. Özil, for all his virtues as a player, has never had a problem confronting his managers (Mourinho, Ancellotti, Emery, and finally Arteta). It took until the arrival of Martin Ødegaard on a permanent basis for Arsenal's squads to replace the playmaking prowess of the German, but have done so with an astronomical work-rate player with an ingratiating manner and a decidedly professional approach to training and team play. Whether he reaches the heights of Özil's best seasons remains to be seen, but the promise of his recent performances is indeed tantalizing.
On Ozil getting preferential treatment from Wenger; Fabregas lamented Arsene Wenger's tendency to coddle his players and there were some comments from Aaron Ramsey more recently that I didn't think much of at the time, about how Ozil would get extra time off and was a bit of a 'teacher's pet'. It's also just been announced that Ozil has been dropped from his current squad after falling out with the club's interim manager.
TBF to Ozil he didn't have too many quality players around him in the last couple of years at Arsenal. The team as a whole was playing poorly and he was blamed for a lot of it when it really wasn't ever down to just one player. He was often making passes that his team mates simply weren't good enough to read so they end up looking like poor passes. He was also condemned for his high salary and for not taking a pay cut during covid and why should he? It was probably best for all parties that he eventually left for the Turkish league.
As a charitable player, I am sure he wanted to see if that money was going to help other employees. The ticket handlers, and those that work concession stands and other odd jobs in stadium.
Working people should not be living off hand outs, their wages ought to be sufficient. If they're not the employer should be under scrutiny, not someone who voluntary gives money to charity.
In my opinion, the 2013 move kind of decided his career. He should've been kept in the squad because talent-wise he was better than both Modric and Di Maria and like you said, he was the best passer in Europe. A lot of trophies and glory after 2013 in Madrid would've reminded many people that will have forgotten about him in 10-20 years. I think CR7 can agree, but he was his best teammate ever, him and Chiesa(he was wanted in Manchester by him after the big homecoming). Also, I think at some point he broke the record for most assists before age 30 or something like that. Hands down, one of my favorite players ever.
During the WC18 the team was devided. Özil didnt help by saying NOTHING. Gündogan was accepted cause he actually spoke about the incident. Özils “racism “ claims were laughable at best. He literally was THE personification of integration and a media darling for nearly 10 years and loved by the country.
@@alinac5512 he also never, not once, not ONCE sang the National anthem. He wouldn’t even smile or show any affection. Tbh we never appreciated that. But kinda looked passed it. The Erdogan picture combined with his utter lack of work rate. On top of years of poor form (WC 14 he wasnt playing good at ALL). Didnt help. To put it mildly
@@RJ-dw4jw digga ich kenn mein Land wohl besser als du oder? Ja denke ich auch. But nice you think you can argue with an actual german living in Germany. About incidents… IN GERMANY. Cute.😆👍 So er… Nope you are wrong buddy . The team WAS devided before the tournament. And that for many reason There was the 2014 generation vs the new young generation fued. They had problems with the established world cup winners The özil/Erdogan incident. The lack of löws evolving the playing style. The people wanted löw and bierhoff to RESIGN. The BIG scapegoats were Boateng,Hummels and Müller who got kicked out by Löw instead of taking the hint and leaving. Özil was also chronically underperforming. The media and the fans were sick of his body language and he was critized for it for MONTHS. Argue all you want, but dont tell a freakin german living in the actual place, surrounded and in bedded with the culture/ public opinion in those matters. Just dumb Also laber keinen dünnschiss. Danke.
This man supported Uighurs Muslims arsenal parted ways with him by saying that don't do politics but where is that same narrative when it comes to Russian invasion of Ukraine?? They openly support Ukraine isn't that hypocrisy?
As of this week, Mesut Ozil was informed that he will not be playing in Fenerbahce this year, and he unfollowed the club on his socials. He will sit 2 years more without doing nothing and get his money... For anyone that is interested, he came to Fenerbahce without proper condition. But he was forced into squad. Fenerbahce's rising playermaker Pelkas was benched, and Fenerbahce lost its charm as the team's chemistry was broken. When Mesut was about to catch some form, he got a serious ankle injury and could not play for the rest of the season, Fenerbahce also lost the league. The coach was sacked, interim coach was also sacked. And Vitor Pereria came, people were hoping Mesut would play better. Even though the coach tried to be positive about him, the problems started to arise as Vitor was playing 3 line defence and Mesut's role was out. He stated he does not like that, he made famous retired Fenerbahce Legend player to speak publicy against the coach and the campaign was successful, Vitor was sacked. New interim coach started to gave more chances to Ozil, his game was good, he was the top scorer of the team but eventually he showed his ego again and started to protest being subbed. Leading the incident where he insulted the coach. Then obviously, he was sacked from the team. Jorge Jesus became Fenerbahce's manager, and he said publicly he is not thinking Ozil in the squad. And this marked Mesut Ozil's football career an end... Nowadays in his childhood club, everyone hates him. He does not have any passion for football, but his business deals. Even so club president openly declared he should focus on football rather than business deals. Great player, but shit personality. GG WP.
Mesut Ozil is one polarizing player. At Madrid he was the best #10 in the world. At Arsenal he was divisive to say the least and peaked in 15/16. I always keep saying this, him and Juan Mata failed to adapt to the modern game since most teams hardly use a #10. No question about his talent but suffered from the evolving football world and off the field issues.
When he condemned china for killing muslims, Clubs wants to stay away from politics! Now, every club & country is showing their support for Ukraine. Why double standards? Hypocrites
Regarding of China situation. It is not politic, its about human right. Complaining about innocence dying isnt politic. That statement was pure BS. It just a "company" who want to keep Yuan on their pocket. Simple as that.
I will give you a comment as a second assist and I respect Ozil now not only because of his vision but for his human side and solidarity with other muslims in China , BIG RESPECT .
@@FootballIconic Every big man has this little break down , like Messi or Ronaldo or even the biggest names like: Eric Djemba- Djemba. But I am sure that you will be back in no time.
He was right but world was cruel. He has made world best players even better but the world made him weak and weak. But as a supporter I know what he is capable and what he is going through so wherever he go we follow and support him.🇳🇵🇳🇵
"The Last Number 10" Remember his first match in Schalke as well as his first years. when in schalke there was Lincoln at the time so it was sad to see this generational talent on the bench even though he was like 17-18 at the time, you could tell that he was special. fast forward he went to Bremen and there was Diego as number 10 lol. unlucky for Mesut again. he was getting more playing time in his second season but in 09-10 season he became the key of that team after Diego's departure. And then comes the World Cup and the rest is history. Hypocrisy of the German National team and Arsenal are not suprising, if you dont obey the "big brothers" agenda, you are out....
The story with China is nothing but a PR stunt from Ozil's side - He played for the next 10-12 games after his tweets and the club's statement. This had nothing to do with his game time at Arsenal. The real issue was him not giving a fuck - Always suffered from a mysterious back pain and played roughly 5(!) hours of Fortnite a day (Somebody literally crunched the numbers and it is just shocking).
I first saw him in wc 2010 when he scored a volley against ghana. Was a die hard fan since, couldn't believe he joined arsenal. The initial years he was unbelievable. I will never forget the 15/16 season with 19 assists, unfortunately he became more of luxury player after that. But now we have got ødegaard who might not be as talented but his work rate and ethics are top notch so cant complain. Coyg
For me he will always be the best midfield player ever❤️❤️❤️if he would have join united during his prime he would have been the best mid player ever we miss you ozil.....
Mesut Özil was my guy back in good old days of Real Madrid. Watched him more when he came to Arsenal and he won the World Cup. My guy did it all in a few years. Thank you a Özil had some glory days in fifa 12-16
As a Muslim from the Middle East, we can see most large organizations' hypocrisy and double standards. They always claim to separate politics from football whenever that would boost their status economically or politically. Standing with Ukraine and the BLM movement aligns with the agenda that dominates their country's political landscape. Standing with the Muslims in China, Palestine, Taiwan vs. China, etc., does not benefit the club as it would upset certain parties who may negatively influence the club's income. Humanitarian issues exist worldwide, and it doesn't touch professional players as footballers or Muslims, but as human beings.
@@andrei19238 ahhh classic islamophobic who thinks Muslim = terrorists. You have been living in a bubble fed lies and believed them. Read about the genocides in Palestine, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the concentration camps in China. They are regular people and discriminated against and murdered because of their religion.
Mesut Özil really had one of the most controversial careers in football. I’m a Gooner and I remember all the debates on fan channel’s on RU-vid and here’s my take. There are plenty political things that aren’t taken as seriously as the war on Ukraine such as the civil wars in Cameroon/Palestine/Israel because WORLD Politics… something about the rich getting rich and the poor remaining poor resonates with it. Russia could do some real damage not just to Ukraine but the world, considering how Putin is threatening ever country that would disturb he’s operations. We do not need to see a Nuclear bomb again in any lifetime. Arsenal and Özil were never going to solve the problems in China and the mere fact that no the premier League had zero campaign on the matter means that it would be Arsenal’s war alone and my friend that was going to be a BIG PHAT L for Arsenal… for Özil’s activists nature. Nah Fam not worth it… I mean even USA is struggling to contain China what on earth was Özil and Arsenal going to do? Get down on two knees before every game?
Power in numbers. If everyone got behind condemning China for a literal genocide then things would be different. But for whatever reason they left Ozil to fight that issue alone while all these clubs chose to support other issues that lined their pockets more which is sad (not saying the other issues weren’t as bad)
Thank you for highlighting the double standard practiced by the clubs. Xin Jiang is a world issue. Its essentially apartheid. But the world just don't brave enough to pick fight with China. Not wanting to involve in politics is really a shitty excuse as they are happily take part on the other political issue when it fits the club. I believe Ozil's demise is simply due to lack of top flight football due to club and coaches keep on sidelining him.
The sourroundings of the WM 2018 werent presented correctly in this video imo. First of all Özil had a bad world cup (like the rest of the team) and was critiqued rightfully (as one of the experienced and best players). Regarding the Photos Erdogan is a widely hated person in Germany because he made bold claims in the past like that germany is still a nazi country, want to reastablish the 3rd Reich and so on and also especially hated by parts of the turkish community because of the suppression of freedom of speech in turkey and the prosecution of the opposition. For example some german policitians / journalists with turkish descents and also some friends of mine which critiqued Erdogan on social media or in the press have or wouldve been convicted if they travel to turkey (look up Denis Yücel). At the end Erdogan is a dictator and represent the exact opposite of the values Germany stands for. Unlike Gündogan (who is still playing for the german NT) he refused to apologize and therefore the hate was deserved to a certain extent. But your right the officials of the DFB used Özil as a scapegoat for the underwhelming WC performance and it wasn't fair because the whole team and especially the management fucked up.
I think it would have been worth to also mention the role of his adviser. From what I heard, he was not a real fan of Özil playing in the German national team and he had business interests in Turkey of his own, a circumstance that makes it advisable to be good friends with Erdogan.
For me as a german, it very sad to see, how his journey at our national team ended. He really had a point (at 10:50). There are still to many nationalist and xenophobic people in Germany, which complain Players with foreign roots shouldn't play in the national team. Which is very stupid, because they have just such a right to play and are really an asset to the team.
