Arsene Wenger has come to the rescue of under-fire Mesut Ozil who has been severely criticised for his dismal performance in the 2-1 defeat against Manchester City

The Germany international is undoubtedly one of the most important players for the Gunners but he has made a reputation of not making an impact in big games and has faced widespread criticism for his displays in Arsenal’s successive defeats to Everton and City.

The playmaker looked lethargic while defending and made a little impact going forward at the Etihad as Arsenal lost their second game in a week which has dented their title hopes.

However, the Arsenal boss has defended the German and said that Arsenal’s lack of possession was responsible for the midfielder’s poor show.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of the Boxing Day game against West Brom, Wenger said: “It’s very difficult for me to come out on an individual – I have a debrief with the players themselves.

“To be absolutely fair I did not listen to all the criticism we got, but we have to accept it. People analyse and have an opinion and that’s normal. We have to respond, and big players always respond to criticism on the pitch.

“I don’t give [Ozil] leeway – when the team has no possession he has to do his job like everybody else. Usually, he does it well.

“He suffers more when we don’t have the ball and at City, we didn’t have the ball enough, but unfortunately if you want the ball you have to win it back
“He is a guy who works much harder than people think – his body language goes against him sometimes. We are a team who wins it back high up with Sanchez and Ozil, and he does his job very well.”

Meanwhile, the North London outfit will be looking to get their title challenge back on track when they welcome Tony Pulis’ side after Christmas. The Gunners are trailing table-toppers Chelsea by 9 points and another poor result might end their title hopes.