Wenger: Why I removed Ozil

Arsene Wenger has revealed that a fear of fatigue is why he brought an early end to Mesut Ozil’s show against Liverpool.

Ahead of the international break, the German ace found himself in the midst of media controversy after being spotted at a nightclub despite missing Arsenal’s trip to Newcastle through illness.

However, Ozil racked up a couple of assists in the two games for his country before following that up with a sublime free-kick in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Liverpool.

The 26-year-old could not last the whole day though as Arsene Wenger withdrew him for Danny Welbeck with nearly 20 minutes left to play.

And according to the Arsenal boss, a growing concern over the fitness of Ozil is what prompted that substitution.

“Alexis played two games with Chile, Ozil played two games with Germany and I could see that their legs had gone a little bit with 25 minutes to go.” Wenger said

“I had a decision to make between him or Ozil and I subbed Ozil because I felt he was in danger of being injured. Alexis did fight very hard until the end.”