Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann believes that there is a reason why Real Madrid sold Mesut Ozil to Arsenal, but insists the German should not shoulder all the blame alone for the Gunners' struggles.

The Gunners have come under fire of late after a humiliating 5-1 first leg loss against Bayern Munich in the round of 16 stage of the Champions League.




Now Arsene Wenger's men look set to crash out and the 43-year-old feels that it is a failure of the team as a whole and it would be wrong to make any single player a scapegoat.

However, Hamann insists that there are certain star players within the squad who have the ability to perform at the highest level, but only do so in September, October or November and then switch off in February.
 


Ozil is one such player, Hamann believes, and says he has failed to live up to the hype that had been built around him. The former midfielder also feels that there is a reason why Real Madrid sold the German star and the Gunners need to realise that.  

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"I never believed the hype about Mesut Ozil, but he shouldn’t be treated as a scapegoat either", Hamann wrote in his column at Paddy Power.

"The bottom line with Arsenal is they’ve got some players who play in September, October and November but don’t turn up in February and March.

"That’s when it matters.

"There’s a reason Real Madrid sold Ozil."