Michael Owen slates Ozil on Twitter, and angers fans with Coutinho claim

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Former England striker Michael Owen had little nice to say about Mesut Ozil during and after Arsenal’s loss to Liverpool.

Outspoken Arsenal critic Michael Owen was on commentary for BT Sport to see his former club Liverpool inflict a 5-1 defeat at Anfield.

Owen has angered fans of Arsenal all season long by insisting he would stick by his prediction they will finish fifth, and then even just last week claiming their success was due to the manager’s tactics rather than the players being top quality.

Perhaps Owen’s most controversial statement came back in December, when he wrote on his blog that he did not feel Mesut Ozil was world class, and had a problem influencing big games.

So the game at Anfield was only fuel to that fire, with Ozil poor – even receiving much criticism from his own fans – amid giving the ball away twice in the lead up to Liverpool goals.

Owen was quick to pounce on Ozil’s performance post-game, writing on his Twitter feed:

Yet while it was widely acknowledged Ozil under-performed, it was Owen’s in-game commentary which divided opinion even more so.

While making a similar statement, he claimed that Liverpool playmaker Coutinho was more influential when it counted, which ignited quite a response:

While Owen’s assessment of Ozil in big games may be a narrative which progresses one way or not as the season develops, a simple look at the season statistics shows Coutinho has a way to go to match the German’s overall output.

Arsenal will hope heading into a crucial run of fixtures, their record signing can ensure he answers his doubters, rather than see them grow.