Speaking on talkSPORT, Martin Keown has gone on the record to give his view on Mesut Ozil, comparing him to Kieran Tierney and assessing the potential legacy he’ll be leaving behind at Arsenal.
It’s now been widely reported that Ozil will be departing the Emirates this month, and that has understandably led to a bit of wider reflection on the German’s stint in north London.
Keown doesn’t believe that Ozil will go down as an Arsenal legend, but he claimed that he would be Arsenal’s greatest ever player if he had the same level of determination as Kieran Tierney.
“It hurts me that a player with that talent, for whatever reason, we can’t get him on the football pitch.
“For me he doesn’t go down as a legend because he doesn’t match the determination of energy levels that I would have seen of true legends at that football club.
“He hasn’t really played with enough determination, if he had Tierney’s determination, coupled with that ability, he might go down as probably the best player that ever played for Arsenal.”
You can see these comments in one of two ways.
You can either see it as a knock on Ozil for not giving his all 100 per cent of the time while playing for the Gunners.
Or, you can see it as a massive compliment to Kieran Tierney, as Keown says that if Ozil was a bit more like Tierney he’d be Arsenal’s best player ever.
Unfortunately, it seems as though Ozil’s chance at Arsenal has been and gone. He looks set to be on his way out of the Emirates, and he’s likely played his final ever game for the club.
Will he go down as a legend? In some people’s eyes he certainly will, but it has to be said he didn’t consistently hit the heights that were expected of him.
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