‘Rally behind ozil’

LONDON. — Arsenal’s Mathieu Debuchy will be out for at least six weeks with an ankle injury, manager Arsene Wenger has said.
The France defender (28), who was taken off on a stretcher against Manchester City on Saturday, could be missing for three months if surgery is needed.
Wenger said: “He has an exploration of his ankle on Friday night (last night) . They go in and look how the ligament is damaged.”
The Arsenal boss has, meanwhile,  rejected criticism  of midfielder Mesut Ozil (25) following Tuesday’s defeat at Borussia Dortmund.  Wenger says he has no concerns over Ozil’s form — and has urged Arsenal fans to get behind the playmaker. Ozil has been criticised in some quarters for his performances since returning from Germany’s World Cup success in the summer.

However, Wenger is confident the 25-year-old will soon rediscover his best form.
“The fans should not be concerned and just support him,” the boss said. “I understand that you always want your best players to make the difference in every single game and we all go through periods where we are a bit less good. You help. A club is a union between players, supporters and directors.

You have to be united and sometimes go through periods together where it goes a bit less well. Why should he be be a scapegoat? We’ve lost one game since April 1. Let’s be realistic. We’ve come out of a very difficult preparation period with decisive games. What is difficult to manage today is that everybody knows absolutely everything and everybody judges people definitely on one game.”  —BBC Sport.