Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been told by his training staff to put record-signing Mesut Ozil on a weight-training regime in order for him to bulk up and get stronger in order to deal with the roughness of the Premier League.
The £42.3million signing has come under a lot of scrutiny lately about his poor form, and after putting in a shocking performance againt Liverpool at the weekend, more and more pressure has been put on the German to bounce back.
In his press conference ahead of the Manchester United clash, Wenger defended his record signing and admitted that he needs time to adapt to the physical side of the English game.
‘He thinks it’s more physical here (in England) for sure and he is working on his body strength to deal with it,’ said Wenger.
‘He works on strengthening his body in the gym. Mesut feels the pressure, of course. He knows a lot is expected when you are a big transfer.
‘But he should not worry about that — just play, enjoy it and give his best — that’s the best way to deal with it. But on the other hand, you must say he doesn’t come from a small club.
‘He comes from Real Madrid where the pressure is always huge — so he’s used to it. He needs understanding because he always wants to do well. He cares. He’s not a guy who doesn’t care.
‘His style can sometimes look like that he doesn’t care but he’s really the opposite character.’
Although Wenger is keen for his starman to bulk up, he also is eager for him to not lose his attacking threat in the final-third.
Wenger added: ‘What else does he need to improve? His goalscoring. You want the guy who plays behind the striker to score some goals and sometimes he is too obsessed with making the perfect pass when he could take a shot at goal.
‘He needs to practise on it and we need to convince him by showing him situations where he can shoot more. The problem at the moment is that we are not practising much.
‘The problem today is that you cannot practise any more. During the season, we are playing every three days, and afterwards they go to the World Cup.
‘When they come back they have just one week before they are playing again. You can never improve on the training pitch.’
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
