Mesut Ozil Blasted by Paul Scholes for Geoffrey Kondogbia Shirt Swap at Monaco

Mesut Ozil's decision to swap shirts with Geoffrey Kondogbia at half-time during Tuesday's UEFA Champions League match between Arsenal and AS Monaco received plenty of scrutiny on social media, and Paul Scholes was among the German's critics.

As reported by MailOnline's Daniel Prescott, the former Manchester United midfielder didn't like the gesture at all, and he didn't mind letting the world know while appearing on ITV.

"I don't like it," Scholes said. "At the end of the game, maybe. But still I'm not a big fan then. You do it once you're in the tunnel or in the dressing room, out of the way of everyone. At half-time, it's not for me."

Scholes was joined in his criticism by a number of pundits and journalists. The Independent's Joe Krishnan wasn't a fan of what he was seeing:

Who Ate All The Pies approached the situation with a sense of humour:

Swapping shirts at the end of a match is a tradition that goes back decades, but the swapping of shirts at half-time is a fairly recent development. We've seen players agree on swapping at half-time before, but they usually find each other again after the match.

For some fans, it's difficult to see a player focused on a piece of clothing rather than the match. Arsenal were leading Monaco 1-0 at the time, needing to score two more goals to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Not everyone was as outraged, however. Telegraph Football conducted a quick survey among fans and found the majority had no problem with what they saw:

Kondogbia is a 22-year-old playing in his first Champions League campaign, and Ozil may be one of the biggest international stars he's ever faced on a pitch. The Frenchman likely approached the Gunners' midfielder himself, and Ozil responded in kind—one can only speculate on the reaction he would have gotten if he had said 'no.'

It's not as if there seemed to be anything wrong with Ozil's focus—he was one of Arsenal's top performers on Tuesday, something even French newspaper L'Equipe acknowledged, via Sport Witness:

Yes, it's odd to watch two rival players take off their shirts and swap them at half-time in full view of fans and cameras. The equipment manager likely also isn't a big fan, as he is then forced to dig up another shirt because the player decided to gift his away with 45 minutes left to play.

But you would expect pundits to have something better to discuss after a match than when and where it's acceptable to swap shirts with your opponent. Let's just hope the German has learned his lesson and waits until he's reached the tunnel next time.

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