Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp Blasts 'Hypocritical' Mesut Ozil Criticism
Jurgen Klopp has leapt to the defense of Mesut Ozil, claiming that the criticism of the Arsenal player is 'hypocritical' and unjustified.
Ozil retired from international football last month after he and teammate Ilkay Gundogan were criticized for being photographed with Turkey's President Erdogan.
The Arsenal attacking midfielder - who is of Turkish descent - cited "racism and disrespect" as his reasons for an early retirement, and Klopp says that the criticism of the Arsenal man is ill-informed.
“This is a classic example of absolute misinformation and, of course, complete nonsense,” the Liverpool manager told Sport1.
“In politics, little things have always been blown up and big things pushed away in order to continue.
"Normally, intelligent people tend to hold back because it is not easy to say the right thing. I would count myself [among those people] too. All those who have no idea are very loud in these conversations.
"I know Ilkay Gundogan very well, I know Emre Can and Nuri Sahin very well. I do not know Mesut so well, but I would like to take him home. I do not doubt these guys, at least about their loyalty to our homeland.
"The difference is that they just have one more thing [in their heritage]. Where is the problem? That's beautiful."
Klopp also claims that the media need to do a better job of understanding the people behind the sensationalism.
"I find this discussion hypocritical," he added. "Bad things happened because people were not informed properly. Even the media should not create a buzz around something like this every day. Just cool off and see the people behind it."
Ozil's final Germany appearance came at this summer's World Cup, where Die Mannschaft were eliminated at the group stage for the first time ever.
