Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Arsenal interim boss Freddie Ljungberg vows to ‘deal with’ Mesut Ozil after Man City strop
Arsenal were completely outclassed against Manchester City on Sunday.
Arsenal: Freddie Ljungberg reacts to 3-0 Man City loss
Arsenal interim boss Freddie Ljungberg hinted he will take action after Mesut Ozil's furious reaction to being substituted against Manchester City.
Ozil was criticised for the way he left the pitch against City on Sunday.
With the Gunners 3-0 down at home to the Premier League champions, Ozil was replaced by Emile Smith-Rowe with just over half an hour remaining.
But the German simply walked off the pitch slowly, showing no will to rush.
After he made it to the touchline, he tore off his gloves and kicked them down across the dugout.
JUST IN: Arsenal news: Ljungberg to address Emirates unrest with pre-match talk
He subsequently appeared to ignore Ljungberg and sit himself down in the dugout.
And the temporary boss insisted he will deal with Ozil after he views the incident.
“I took Mesut off because I wanted some more energy in the team,” he said.
“Emile did really, really well when he came in.
READ MORE
Arsenal transfer problems are hampering their search for next manager
Freddie Ljungberg issues back me or sack me ultimatum to Arsenal
Why Mikel Arteta should not leave Man City to be next Arsenal manager
“How Mesut reacts when he goes off is up to him and is something we will deal with it later.
“First of all I'm here on a day-to-day basis, we’ll see what the future holds, but of course we want players in the right way.”
Ozil hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons on Saturday, after sharing a message on Twitter criticising alleged Chinese treatment of Uighur Muslims.
As a result, Chinese television decided against broadcasting Sunday’s game.
However, Ljungberg insisted the club will deal with the matter.
“With the China thing, that's a political discussion, I'll leave that for the club to deal with.
“There will be a statement or there has been a statement.
"With the other stuff, he should be annoyed when he comes off, but I'm the coach at the moment and I take the decision that I want more energy in the team.”