Mesut Özil posted on social media to express his pride after Arsenal’s North London derby win over Tottenham Hotspur, despite having to miss the game with an injury.
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Özil had to miss Sunday’s game after suffering a back spasm in the week leading up to the match. As a result, all the conspiracy theorists came out of the woodwork with stories about how he was faking the injury after being dropped, and so on.
Any theory suggesting Özil doesn’t care about the team was thoroughly debunked by his post-match update on social media though. The German playmaker tweeted that he was ‘proud of the whole team’ adding the standard ‘North London is red’:
https://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1069267445419073536
After Özil’s trouble with back spasms in the past, the most likely explanation for why Arsenal are claiming he’s suffered another one is that he really has suffered another one.
Some people are chasing clicks and retweets by trying to come up with more sensational explanations for his absence, but the truth of the matter is almost certainly not that exciting. Players miss matches with injury, particularly when they have a recurring problem.
There’s no way Özil has given up on Arsenal or Unai Emery after dropping to the bench for one game. He’s a grown man and a professional footballer. Let’s move on.