Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that midfielder Mesut Ozil still hasn’t recovered from his missed penalty against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
With the score at 0-0 and after a fast start from The Gunners, Ozil had the chance to give the hosts the lead from the spot-kick, but his tame effort was easily palmed away by Manuel Neuer, much to the annoyance of many Arsenal fans.
The German international came under a lot of scrutiny on social networking sites from the angry fans and the morning after the game, Ozil sent out an apology message on his official Facebook account.
That was then followed by a message from Lukas Podolski telling the fans to stick behind his German counterpart, and today, Wenger has confirmed that Ozil is still feeling down after his poor penalty.
When asked about whether the midfielder has recovered, Wenger said: “Certainly not. 48 hours is a bit short. It’s part of the job to deal with disappointment and prove you can get on with it. He apologised after the game. I don’t think people are shocked he missed, it’s just he takes his penalties in an unusual way.
“I believe that at the moment I have to let him recover from that. I have seen this before with Bergkamp, missing in 1999 (in the FA Cup semi-final replay against Manchester United) and refusing after to take any penalties.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
