Mesut Ozil's agent claims the Arsenal star is being made a scapegoat for the team's current problems.
Ozil, 28, was part of the Arsenal team that lost 5-1 to Bayern Munich midweek in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, a game in which he appeared to play a peripheral role.
But his agent Dr Erkut Sogut told BBC Sport criticism of Ozil is unfair.
"Criticism is normal if a player plays badly," Sogut said.
"But Mesut feels people are not focusing on his performance; they are using him as a scapegoat for the team after bad results.
"In these games [against Bayern] people usually target a player who cost a lot of money and earns a lot of money—that is Mesut. But he can't be always be the scapegoat. That's not fair."
Arsenal faces a test of a very different kind on Monday evening when it travels to non-league Sutton United in the FA Cup fifth round.
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