Arsene Wenger Comments On Mesut Ozil's Struggles Ahead of Bayern Munich Match

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called on Mesut Ozil to start scoring goals again ahead of the Gunners' UEFA Champions League last-16 tie with Bayern Munich.

Wenger's men face Bayern in the first leg at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, and the Arsenal boss is worried club-record signing Ozil is short of confidence after watching the attacking midfielder struggle recently.

Ozil was a subdued figure during Saturday's 2-0 win over Hull City at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League.

Speaking after the game, Wenger told reporters he doesn't know exactly why his chief playmaker is out of sorts, per BBC Sport: "I don't know why he is underperforming—it can happen."

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However, Wenger did indicate Ozil has appeared to lack belief during recent games: "I felt he did not feel confident against Hull. It's always a problem because you think he can deliver something special, but it's true that technically he missed things that he is not used to."

Fortunately, Wenger believes the remedy is a simple one. "It's time for him to score again," Wenger said. "Maybe he will find confidence back as well, because he misses chances. He has chances and he misses the chances that don't look not feasible for him."

A goal or two would be timely for both Ozil and Arsenal against Bayern; the Gunners have fallen off the pace in the Premier League title race recently and are 10 points behind leaders Chelsea.

Consecutive defeats against Watford and the table-topping Blues prior to Saturday's victory all but ended Arsenal's hopes for a first league title since 2004. Ozil has borne the brunt of criticism for the sluggish showings, coming under particularly intense scrutiny for his showing in the 3-1 loss at Chelsea.

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BBC pundit Alan Shearer criticised Ozil's defensive efforts at Stamford Bridge during an episode of Match of the Day (h/t James Walters of the Daily Star): "This is embarrassing. Sanchez and Ozil, Matic just goes straight through."

It's not the first time Ozil's performances in big games have been derided. Indeed, Dave Fraser of The Sun offered this damning indictment of the Arsenal schemer against the Premier League's top six: "While goalscoring has never really been his forte, Ozil is renowned for his gifting passing ability, most notably his knack for assisting a team-mate for a goal. Against the top six he's handed out a big, fat ZERO assists..."

The criticism looked to have got to Ozil during the match against relegation-threatened Hull. He was quick to get frustrated, both during and after the game, with James Benge of the London Evening Standard noting the Germany international's despondent reaction after the full-time whistle:

If ever there was a time for Ozil to lift his spirits and produce a performance more akin to his undoubted talent, the game in Munich is it. The cerebral German has already been urged by former Chelsea man Michael Ballack to reject a new contract from Arsenal and join Bayern, per German publication Bild (h/t James Walker-Roberts of Sky Sports).

Yet what Wenger really needs is for the player who has scored nine times for the Gunners this season, according to WhoScored.com, to inspire his team to an unlikely first-leg win.

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Arsenal haven't progressed past this stage of Europe's premier club competition since 2010, being eliminated twice by Bayern in that time. The only way the Gunners can avoid more misery is for big players like Ozil to finally deliver in a big game.

Wenger, under pressure from disgruntled fans, will have to hope his continued faith in an out-of-sorts Ozil is rewarded in Germany.