The former Gunners striker thinks Arsenal are beginning to look foolish over the Ozil saga and must get the German on the pitch

Andy Cole has said Arsenal manager Unai Emery should find a way to incorporate Mesut Ozil into his starting XI.

The former Real Madrid star has been selected from the off in just one of the Gunners last 10 outings and wasn’t even on the bench for Thursday night’s 1-0 defeat to BATE Borisov.

His omission now means he has missed 100 games since moving to the London club in 2013 and, as a result, Cole thinks the situation at the Emirates has become almost comical.

Article continues below

Editors' Picks

Juve on alert: Exiled Icardi may have already played his final game for Inter Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage as league leaders Liverpool put on a five-star show Lukaku sends reminder that his Man Utd career is far from over

“It’s becoming a bit of a comedy sketch at the moment,” the 47-old told Sky Sports.

“The manager has decided maybe he doesn’t want him in the team, he doesn’t work hard enough or whatever.”

During Arsene Wenger’s last few years at the club, Arsenal were often accused of being weak, something Emery has tried to address by dropping Ozil.

However, Cole believes that the Spaniard’s predecessor may have got more from the German rather than seeing him sit on the bench.

“Sometimes when you have that luxury, I think some of the boys in the team would be prepared to work a little bit harder to get him on the ball to produce that magic.

“Arsenal over the previous years, when Wenger was there, did that. You’ve got to play your best players when you need them, and Ozil is one of Arsenal’s best.

“If you asked Lacazette and Aubameyang: ‘Do you want Mesut to play?’ they’d say yes all day long, all day long! It’s really, really strange.

Cole isn’t the only former player to criticise Arsenal and Ozil recently, with Martin Keown claiming the saga surrounding the German had become ‘embarrassing’.

“Is he injured? Is he ill? One thing as a player you’ve got to be is available for selection and you want to give consistency. He hasn’t been able to give either of those,” said the pundit.

With or without Ozil, Arsenal will be hoping to bounce back from that disappointing defeat to BATE Borisov when the Belarusian side travel to the Emirates next week for the return leg.

After that, the Gunners host Southampton and Bournemouth in the league.