Mesut Ozil celebrates a goal in the Premier League. PHOTO/AFP.
LONDON, United Kingdom, Nov 10 – Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has revealed that manager Arsene Wenger has encouraged him to be more selfish in order to score more goals.
The Germany international stood out last season due to his 19 assists in the Premier League, but so far this campaign he has registered only three, while scoring seven goals.
Ozil explained that Wenger wants him to go for goal more often, instead of always looking for a teammate.
“The manager wants me to score lots of goals,” Ozil told the Arsenal website. “He sees in training that when I have a chance, the ball mostly goes in. When we train on finishing, he sees that I score lots of goals. He knows that I’m ice cold in front of goal and he wants to see that in matches.
“I’m doing that now I go forward and, while I haven’t changed my game, I’m focusing on scoring goals myself too.
“Every year he comes to me and says, ‘You need to score more than 10 goals this season that needs to be your aim because you have the quality.’ I’m trying to take that on.
“I wouldn’t say I’m more selfish. As I said, I’d never change my playing style. I’m the kind of person who, if I see a teammate in a better position I will pass to them. But I try to finish myself too, or to run into space so I can finish.”
