Bayern Munich President Criticizes Mesut Ozil After Statement

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has heavily criticized Mesut Ozil following the Arsenal star's decision to quit the Germany national team, describing the decision as great for the country.

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has heavily criticized Mesut Ozil following the Arsenal star's decision to quit the Germany national team, describing the decision as great for the country.

Ozil announced his retirement from international football on Sunday, citing racism and disrespect as key factors in the decision, but Hoeness instead stated how the national team will become stronger in Ozil's absence.

Hoeness said, as quoted by German publication Bild: "That is great for the German national team for competitive reasons. In my view, Özil has been a player MIA for years. He’s [resigning] on the pretence of his allegedly poor treatment by the DFB, but he should ask himself when the last time he won a one-on-one was. It’s been years."

"For the new beginning, it’s super that he’s now finally quitting. Already at the World Cup 2014, he was no more than a fellow traveller and not far from being cut. The others [on the team] pulled him through the final. Now he’s hidden himself nicely behind the Erdogan story. He’s played like crap for years and now Grindel or Bierhoff are supposed to be to blame."

Ozil was part of the Germany team that failed to qualify for the knockout stages of this summer's World Cup, with Die Mannschaft losing to both Mexico and South Korea, and Hoeness highlighted his performances with some scathing criticism and also referenced Bayern's Champions League dominance over the Gunners in previous seasons.

He added: "I’m glad the fuss is over. He’s played like crap for years. The last one-on-one he won was before the World Cup 2014. And now he’s hiding himself and his s*** performance behind this photo."

"Always when we played against Arsenal we played over him, because we knew that is their weak point. His 35 million fanboys - who of course don’t exist in the real world - get worked up that Ozil has played amazingly when he successfully makes a cross to his target."