Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes record-signing Mesut Ozil is finally over his penalty-miss againt Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
With the game still young and at 0-0, the German international won a penalty for the hosts and decided to take it himself, but his tame effort was pawed away by Manuel Neuer.
After that game, Wenger admitted that Ozil was feeling down and wasn’t over the penalty miss, so he decided to leave the German out of the next two games.
However, after scoring and setting up two goals against Everton in the FA Cup Quarter Final on Saturday, Wenger believes his record-signing is finally over the penalty miss and is back to his best.
“I think it affected him mentally too much, the penalty he missed against Bayern. It was not only physical, it was mental,” said Wenger.
“He had the feeling he let the team down at a very important moment of the game, that affected his performance very much.
“Psychologically sometimes the wound is like a physical one. You can talk and talk and talk, but it takes time. You just have to leave it to time.
“I think he is over it. He has a good opportunity to show on Tuesday night how good he is.”
“I would like him to find the right balance between being a provider and finisher,” the Arsenal boss said.
“At the moment the balance is a bit detrimental to the finishing.
“His strong side is providing, but he is pacey, much quicker than people think he is, and with that technical quality and that pace, if he gets into the right areas and with the service he has, he can score goals.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
