Mesut Ozil has not played for Arsenal since March 7 and has not been included in their Premier League or Europa League squads; The midfielder's contract runs out at the end of the season and he has vowed to stay until then
Tuesday 8 December 2020 14:50, UK
Arsenal's creative shortcomings have raised questions of Mikel Arteta's decision to omit Mesut Ozil from his 25-man Premier League squad, so should the Gunners boss reinstate him when the registration window reopens in January?
Ozil has not featured since Arsenal's 1-0 win over West Ham in March having fallen out of favour with Arteta, who opted to leave him out of his Premier League and Europa League squads in October.
Arteta has shown little inclination to change his mind, but Ozil insists he has no plans to leave the club until his contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Arsenal have endured a wretched start to the season in front of goal, scoring just 10 goals in 11 Premier League games and dropping to 15th in the table with Sunday's 2-0 loss to Tottenham.
Their latest defeat brought their lack of creative spark into focus once more, but the debate over what to do with Ozil split opinion in the Monday Night Football studio.
Freddie Ljungberg knows Ozil well from his time on Arsenal's coaching staff and started him in four of his five Premier League games as caretaker manager following Unai Emery's sacking last year.
The former winger admitted Ozil's situation has become an unwelcome sideshow for Arteta, but insisted his qualities are exactly what Arsenal are currently missing.
"It becomes a problem," said Ljungberg. "We're now discussing it again and I was here two weeks ago and we discussed Mesut then as well.
"As a coach, it's a bit annoying because he needs to answer [questions on] it in press conferences when he wants to concentrate on the team
"I don't say that Mesut should play every single week.
"When you play against a top team - not Tottenham because they sit back, so maybe it's a bit different - but when you play a City, who keep the ball a lot, maybe that's not time for Mesut because you would just defend all the time.
"But when you have possession or you need to find that little cute pass, I don't think there are many better players than Mesut in doing that."
"I don't know why the decision was made, that he is outside of the 25-man squad and they can't use him. But for those things, I don't think there are many better players in the world."
Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, defended Arteta's decision to leave Ozil out, questioning his attitude and reminding Ljungberg of an incident during his interim spell in charge when the German pulled off his gloves and kicked them away after being substituted during a 3-0 loss to Manchester City.
"I don't think the answer is bringing Ozil in," he said.
"I know you used him more than [Emery and Arteta] did but I think you had a situation where he came off and threw his gloves in one game.
"Two managers - maybe three with yourself - are they all wrong about him?
"There's no doubt he has got quality. But we've spoken about Ozil so often on this show over the years and I don't think he's the answer to fix all of Arsenal's problems right now.
"Why don't people pick him? There must be something."
Arsenal's derby defeat means they sit 11 points behind Tottenham with just over a quarter of the season gone. Has the gulf in north London ever been this large?
Jasper Taylor is joined by Dharmesh Sheth and Gerard Brand to discuss Spurs' continued fine form, as well as assessing Arsenal's lack of creativity as we ask: was Mikel Arteta expecting the Gunners to sign Houssem Aouar in the summer? And did he oust Mesut Ozil too early?
Sky Sports' digital journalist Oliver Yew also joins the show to give his first-hand experience of fans returning to stadiums, and Kaveh Solhekol is on the Regional Review to talk all things West Ham.
And in part four, we discuss Sheffield United's woes as they prop up the table following the worst-ever start by any club to a Premier League campaign.
Listen to the Sky Sports Pitch to Post Podcast on: Spotify | Apple | Castbox
