Garth Crooks says a lot of mad shite.
The BBC pundit has made a name for himself by regularly coming up with the most preposterous Team of the Week selections of anyone in the business.
But it’s not just his odd formations that send football fans to Crooks’ author page on BBC Sport every Monday morning. It’s the fact that he’s liable to say absolutely anything in his columns.
In recent seasons we’ve seen the former Spurs striker select five-man forward lines, credit David Luiz with a pass he didn’t make and bizarrely leave Jamie Vardy out of his Team of the Season last May.
Most recently, he came down hard on Jurgen Klopp for hugging Simon Mignolet before going way over the top with a compliment for Ander Herrera.
Mesut Ozil is the latest player to receive the honour of being spoken about by Crooks and his advice for the Arsenal midfielder is rather out-there.
Crooks has recommended that the Gunners contract rebel go the way of William Gallas and move directly from the Emirates to cross-town rivals, Spurs.
Sol Campbell was the most famous case of a player crossing the North London divide but given the fact that Spurs have finally overtaken Arsenal in terms of Premier League finishing positions, Crooks reckons Mauricio Pochettino’s side would be a better fit for the German international. In his BBC column, he writes:
“A lot has been said about Mesut Ozil. Love him or hate him – and I love him – there is no denying he is a wonderful footballer.
“Is he in the right team? Probably not. A player with his talent would be more appreciated at a club like Tottenham,”
“Now at this moment I may have Arsenal fans foaming at the mouth at the very thought of Ozil defecting to White Hart Lane but frankly it is a better fit,” he continues.
“When Sol Campbell decided to move to Arsenal from Spurs it was because the player was desperate to win trophies. A perfectly acceptable position for a professional footballer to take and a fact that Spurs fans have never been able to come to terms with.
“However, Ozil’s style of football is perfect for Spurs and he has already won things with Arsenal. His overall performance against Stoke, which is always a hard nut to crack, was superb while his goal was sublime.
“Only at Spurs will the fans accommodate players like Ozil. You see, at Spurs it is all about the football while at Arsenal it is all about the winning.”
In recent months, certain groups of Arsenal supporters turned on Ozil for a string of performances in which the midfielder appeared to be giving less effort than he once did.
There would be a strong possibility that Ozil would find himself the most hated turncoat in the club’s history if he decided to make the switch to Spurs.
But we somehow don’t see it coming to that.
