WATCH - Martin Keown rips into Mesut Ozil as he suggests Arsene Wenger may be forced to bench his fading star

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil under fire after a limp display against Stoke

Kevin Palmer

Arsenal legend Martin Keown was fuming after watching the Gunners lose 1-0 to Stoke on Saturday night and he was quick to point an accusing finger at Mesut Ozil after his latest uninspiring display.

After a summer of speculation linking Ozil with a move away from Arsenal as he heads into the final year of his current contract, the German World Cup winner went missing once again as the Gunners slipped to a first defeat of the season.

His display inspired Keown to suggest Ozil is not longer fully committed to the club, as he refused to pull his punches with these feisty comments.

"Arsenal can’t afford to carry someone like Ozil," declared BT Sport pundit Keown.

Jese Rodriguez scored a debut goal for Stoke

"He wants to have a good look at himself because he’s not kidding us watching the game, it’s not real.

"It felt like he was going through the motions today a lot of the time and I think in the goal they concede shows that."

Keown's fellow pundit Steven Gerrard was equally scathing, as he argued Ozil's attitude was a big problem for Wenger.

“You can’t point the finger just at Mesut Ozil but it’s clear to see that out of possession he doesn’t want to know," said the former Liverpool captain.

“He wants to be on the ball, create and make things happen. World-class players do both.

“They still try and get on the ball but when they lose it they put a shift in for their team-mates.”

Despite Arsenal's defeat, Wenger insisted he had no plans to re-enter the transfer market ahead of the August 31st deadline, as he insisted he would only sell players in the next few days.

"I expect to sell players first," he declared. "We have too many and it is not manageable. We have 31, that's too many. But I am not after a game like that in transfer mode."