Admitting that Mesut Ozil is suffering from a lack of confidence after an eight-match goal drought, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called on the midfielder to start scoring goals again.
The 28-year-old was largely anonymous in Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Hull on Saturday, with some reports suggesting his manager is ready to drop him to the bench for the Champions League match with Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
"It's time for him to score again," goal.com quoted Wenger as saying after Alexis Sanchez netted both goals in a 2-0 win over Hull.
"Maybe he will find confidence back as well, because he misses chances. He has chances and he misses the chances that don't look not feasible for him."
"I felt he did not feel confident (against Hull). It's always a problem because you think he can deliver something special but it's true that technically he missed things that he is not used to," he added.
Ozil, who cost a club-record £42m fee from Real Madrid in 2013, has struggled to make an impact in recent games and has not scored for the Gunners since December 10.
More From This Section
The Arsenal boss admitted to be dumbfounded by Ozil's poor performances, but said that he has talked to the latter about the situation.
"I don't know - it can happen," he said. "I don't know any specific reason. I had a chat with him (on Friday)."
Arsenal have lost four of those matches to drop to third position and 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.