Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has stated that Mesut Ozil's poor performance last Sunday in the North London Derby is not an accurate reflection of the German's mentality.
Ozil has been criticised for his lack of effort during the 2-0 defeat to arch-rivals Tottenham, but Wenger claims that Ozil, and other players, were jaded from their previous two matches.
"Just to criticise Mesut Ozil's performance does not reflect exactly what happened on the pitch last Sunday," said the Gunners boss.
"I believe that recently he has put a lot of effort in. He was a bit like the rest of the team, not physically at his best.
"We gave a lot on the previous Sunday [in the FA Cup win over Manchester City], the Wednesday [versus Leicester] and we had not completely recovered on Sunday. He was one of those players."