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Cape Town - Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal has defended team-mate Mesut Ozil after the playmaker was criticised for his perceived lack of effort and negative body language.
Ozil has struggled to find his form in the Premier League, under new manager Unai Emery, and reportedly had a training ground bust-up with the Arsenal boss regarding his non-selection for the game against West Ham.
The 29-year-old was also slammed for his perceived petulance when he slowly walked off the pitch having been substituted in the 68th minute in the defeat at Chelsea last month.
However, Monreal has voiced his support for Ozil and explained that he simply isn't the kind of player that will show a lot of emotion on the pitch.
“People must understand that every player is completely different,” he told the press.
“He is like that [quiet] and 10 years ago he was the same. So you can't expect on the pitch that he starts to fight, to talk with the referee because he never did it. He is not going to change in this case.
“The important thing is he plays at his highest level, gives a lot of assists, scores a lot of goals and basically helps the team.
“That's what he knows. He doesn't know how to go up to a player and grab him by the throat.”
