Arsene Wenger has been spending the World Cup doing a bit of punditry for Bein Sports, although he is in Moscow rather than hearing his voice sloshing around Keys and Gray's echo chamber in Qatar. The erstwhile Arsenal manager has rationalised Ozil's non-performance at this World Cup, as his former player continues to be scapegoated in Germany for their pitiful World Cup exit. Ozil was one of myriad Germany players to stink out the World Cup, but he has been the member of Die Mannschaft to have been stiffed by the general public. Criticism has reached the stage where Ozil's father believes he should quit the national team, comments made after German team manager Oliver Bierhoff admitted that Ozil perhaps shouldn't have been included in the World Cup squad at all. Ozil has been a lightning rod for criticism since he and Ilkay Gundogan posed for a picture alongside Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, but Wenger jumped to his defence on television this week. Advertisement<doc-sep>The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel How can Arteta strengthen this summer? Get all your latest Gunners news Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign me up! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Arsene Wenger has attempted to explain why Mesut Ozil wasn't at his best for Germany at the World Cup in Russia. The Arsenal legend signed Ozil for the Gunners back in 2013, and knows the player well from their time spent together in north London. Germany were shocking in this summer's finals by their dizzyingly high standards, and failed to get out of their group following defeats by Mexico and South Korea. Ozil came in for a lot of criticism as a result, and was even dropped for the Sweden game - the only match Germany won - but Wenger thinks he knows what went wrong. (Image: PA Wire) Speaking on beIN Sports , he said: "I know Ozil well, he's an exceptional football player. "Him and [Ilkay] Gundogan suffered with what happened before the World Cup because they have been vindicated in Germany. "Ozil is a guy who needs support, he doesn't need controversy. (Image: AFP) "When I watched him play, I could feel there were situations in the game where he could have moved forward, progressed and played more vertical. He played security. "I was thinking come on, that is not the real Ozil I know, the guy who can kill. (Image: AFP) "He played alright, but he didn't play with complete freedom and played with the handbrake on this World Cup. "Gundogan didn't even play at all and he's a great player."<doc-sep>Mesut Ozil's poor World Cup display was down to the midfielder 'playing with the handbrake on', according to his former manager Arsene Wenger. Ozil was far from his creative best playing for Germany in Russia as the defending champions suffered a shock exit in the group stages. The 29-year-old started the opening defeat by Mexico before being dropped by manager Joachim Low for Germany's only World Cup win, 3-2 over Sweden. Mesut Ozil endured a poor World Cup as Germany were dumped out in the group stages Ozil was restored to the starting XI against South Korea but delivered an ineffectual performance as Germany suffered a shock loss to end their tournament prematurely. And Wenger, who coached Ozil at Arsenal for five seasons before leaving north London this summer, believes the midfielder was playing without a killer instinct. 'When I watched him play, I could feel there were situations in the game where he could have moved forward, progressed and played more vertical,' Wenger told beIN Sports. 'He played security. I was thinking come on, that is not the real Ozil I know, the guy who can kill,' Wenger added. 'He played alright, but he didn't play with complete freedom and played with the handbrake on this World Cup for Germany.' Ozil's former manager Arsene Wenger thinks Ozil 'played with the handbrake on' for Germany The midfielder shows the strain as Germany were dumped out by losing 2-0 to South Korea Ozil and Germany team-mate Ilkay Gundogan caused controversy ahead of the World Cup when they posed with controversial Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the tournament. Both players, who are of Turkish descent, were jeered by Germany fans in their warm-up friendlies and Wenger believes the atmosphere contributed to Ozil's poor showing. 'Him and [Ilkay] Gundogan suffered with what happened before the World Cup because they have been vilified in Germany,' Wenger said. 'Ozil is a guy who needs support, he doesn't need controversy.' Wenger coached Ozil for five seasons at Arsenal before leaving as manager this summer Ozil has won Germany's Player of the Year in five of the past seven seasons but the midfielder's father has suggested he should retire from international football after the reception he received in Russia. 'If I were in his place, I would say: "Thank you, but that's enough,"' Ozil senior told Bild. 'He's bent, disappointed and offended, yes, offended, his own fans booed him before the World Cup at the international in Austria and he cannot understand why. 'He doesn't always have to defend himself. He's played in the national team for nine years… and became a world champion. 'It's always said that if we win, we win together, but if we lose, we lose because of Ozil. He's booed and put up as a scapegoat – I completely understand that he is offended.'<doc-sep>
The Arsenal playmaker was ineffective as the defending champions crashed out (Picture: Getty) Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has criticised Mesut Ozil’s performances during the World Cup and says the Germany star ‘played with the handbrake on’. Ozil struggled to affect all three of Die Mannschaft’s World Cup matches as they surprisingly exited the competition at the group stage, while he was criticised for meeting Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to the tournament. Wenger feels that controversy affected Ozil’s performances in Russia and was disappointed with how little he was able to show his playmaking talents. Mexico and Sweden progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup instead of Germany (Getty) Speaking to BeIN Sports, Wenger explained: ‘I know Ozil well, he is a fantastic, exceptional footballer but him and [Ilkay] Gundogan suffered from what happened before the World Cup. ‘They have been vilified in Germany. Ozil is a guy who needs support, he doesn’t need controversy. ‘When I watched him play, I could feel that there were situations in the game where he could have moved forward, progressed more vertically. But he played safely. ‘I always was thinking come on, that’s not the real Ozil I know, the guy who can kill. Wenger says Ozil is a player that requires support, but he did not get that from Germany (Getty) ‘He did play alright, but I think he didn’t play with the complete freedom, he played a little bit with the handbrake on at this World Cup.’ After the World Cup, Germany team manager Olivier Bierhoff claimed Ozil’s decision to meet with Erdogan and not address the issue afterwards affected the squad and even claimed he regretted calling up the Arsenal man to the World Cup squad.