Ozil sees contribution to Arsenal cause questioned by Keown

Mesut Ozil has been warned that he needs to offer more to the Arsenal cause, with Martin Keown questioning his contribution.

The Germany international was among those to attract criticism following the Gunners’ 1-0 defeat at Stoke City last time out.

Ozil has been accused of being a luxury player throughout his time at Emirates Stadium, with his attacking creativity countered by a lack of defensive application.

Keown believes the World Cup winner needs to strike a better balance between his work going backwards and forwards, with team-mate Alexis Sanchez the ideal role model when it comes to all-round graft.

The former Gunners defender told the Daily Mail: “One of the main problems for Arsenal at Stoke last week was that Mesut Ozil did not want to close down with the other forwards.

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“It is very easy for Ozil to just try to be creative. If you are never pressing, you do not have to rebalance yourself when you get in possession.

“Sanchez does both sides of the game very well. Arsenal need that in their team - and Sanchez will be urging Ozil to press with him.

“Alexandre Lacazette and Sanchez will run off the ball for Ozil when he has the ball and they need him to do the same for them.”

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Arsenal will be looking to Ozil to offer greater inspiration on Sunday when they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool in a crunch early-season clash between two Premier League heavyweights.