Bayern Munich president, Uli Hoeness, has heavily criticised Mesut Ozil after the Arsenal playmaker announced he was retiring from the Germany national team.
Ozil announced his withdrawal from international football on Sunday at the age of 29, citing racism and lashing out at the president of the German football federation (DFB) for its reaction to him and Ilkay Gundogan posing for a photo with Recep Tayyip Erdogan in during the Turkish President’s visit to London in May.
“I’m glad this nightmare is over,” Hoeness told reporters at Munich airport. “He’s been playing crap for years.
“The last tackle he won was before the 2014 World Cup. And now he is hiding himself and his poor performances behind this photo.
“His 35 million followers, that of course do not actually exist in the real world, ensure that Ozil has played exceptionally when he successfully finds his man with a square ball.”
Hoeness, speaking before flying to the United States for his club’s International Champions Cup matches, questioned how valuable Ozil’s contribution has been to Joachim Low’s team in recent years.
“The development in our country is a catastrophe,” he said. “We should break it down again to what it is — sport and on a sporting level, Ozil hasn’t added anything to the national team for years. When was his last good international?”
Hoeness also claimed that Bayern would target Ozil with their tactics during their frequent Champions League matches against the Gunners in recent seasons. Each of the last three European matches between the two sides has ended in a 5-1 win for Bayern.
“When we faced Arsenal, we always played through him because we knew that he is the weak link,” Hoeness said.
