It's unfair to expect Mesut Özil to ‘go up to a player and grab him by the throat’, says Arsenal teammate Nacho Monreal

The Spaniard insists the playmaker's body language is no indicator of his effort levels

Critics who claim Mesut Özil should wear his heart on his sleeve on the football pitch are being “unfair” on the Arsenal star, according to teammate Nacho Monreal.

Özil has endured a difficult few months for club and country, retiring from Germany duty in acrimonious circumstances after accusing the national federation of subjecting him to “racism and disrespect” in the wake of his controversial photograph with Turkish president Recep Erdogan and being urged to work harder in matches by Arsenal boss Unai Emery.

Reports of tensions between Emery and Özil intensified when the Spaniard left his playmaker out of Arsenal’s match day squad to face West Ham last month, claiming he had fallen ill.

Monreal insists that Emery’s version of events was the truth, adding that Özil does not deserve much of the criticism he regularly receives for his demeanour during games.

“People must understand that every player is completely different,” Monreal said. “He is like that [quiet] and 10 years ago he was the same.

“So you can't expect on the pitch that he starts to fight, to talk with the referee because he never did it. He is not going to change in this case.

Mesut Özil could return from illness for Arsenal's trip to Cardiff (Getty)

“The important thing is he plays at his highest level, gives a lot of assists, scores a lot of goals and basically helps the team. That's what he knows. He doesn't know how to go up to a player and grab him by the throat.”

Arsenal were quick to deny any suggestion that Emery and Özil had fallen out, and Monreal reiterated that those who claim different are telling lies.

“People have been a bit unfair with him,” the Spaniard added. “He is a very famous player and obviously people love talking about him. Recently, it is always bad things. Like last time, he was sick and that's why he didn't play.

“People started to invent that he had a problem with the manager. It wasn’t like that. He got a cold, he was sick, that’s it. That’s why he didn’t play.”

Reverberations from Özil’s dramatic retirement from international duty are still being felt around the German national team, with coach Joachim Low, midfielder Toni Kroos and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer all publicly refuting any suggestion of racism within the camp. Speaking on Wednesday, Low also dismissed the possibility of the Arsenal star returning to the squad.