Arsenal were guilty of letting down Mesut Ozil during their 5-1 drubbing at Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff believes.
Arsene Wenger's men crumbled at the Allianz Arena last month and as a result are now staring at a last 16 exit from the Champions League, having been outclassed again by the German giants.
Ozil especially came in for criticism from Arsenal fans, who believe he often fails to put in the hard yards.
But Bierhoff, who scored Germany's winning goal at Euro 96 in England, takes a different view and believes Ozil's team-mates were responsible for not giving the Germany international enough support in the match.
He told German magazine Sport Bild: "If I look at Ozil, who was singled out following the 5-1 loss at Bayern, then in that match there wasn't much support for a player like Mesut, someone who lives on his footballing qualities.
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"The team let him down a bit", Bierhoff added.
Arsenal are currently battling to convince Ozil and his team-mate Alexis Sanchez to put pen to paper on fresh contracts as their present deals expire next year.
Ozil is a regular under Gunners boss Wenger, who has kept faith with him despite criticism from some Arsenal supporters.
It remains to be seen if the Gunners can pull off a miracle comeback in the second leg of their last 16 tie against Bayern Munich.
