Arsenal’s Mesut Özil is a World Cup winner, a five-time Germany Player of the Year, and statistically one of the most productive midfielders in the world. Yet despite all of these accolades, the 28-year-old is still regularly slated by both fans and pundits around the world. Some say he’s too lazy, and others claim that the midfielder disappears in big matches for the Gunners. Neither of these arguments appear very strong when taking a deeper look.
In a piece published last month, the Daily Express outlined how much distance Özil covered in games this season. Out of the 16 matches in which he played a full 90 minutes, the midfielder covered more than 10km 14 times. These numbers were compared to the rambunctious Alexis Sanchez, who failed to cover 10km a single time out of 20 matches in which he completed a full 90 minutes.
