ARJEN ROBBEN

Arjen Robben reckons the criticism that Mario Gotze is facing at the moment is going to turn him to a better player.

Just about a year back, Gotze had emerged as an absolute hero after making his national team the World Champion.

He was the sole goal scorer in the title match of FIFA World Cup 2014.

But, like every other youngster in the professional circuit, he has also suffered a bit of a slump in form and is currently looking a very, very ordinary player.

All of a sudden, people have started finding a lot of negative things in his game and he is being handed criticism from all quarters, but, according to Robben, the youngster is quite unfazed and is not panicking at all.

Talking to a website, the Dutchman said, “It happens in everybody’s career. You’ve got to go through such phases and Mario knows that. He will develop and come out stronger.”

Robben is not the only one to have come out in defence of Gotze.

Joachim Low, the man under whom the playmaker performed so well in Brazil, has also backed him.

The previous week, Low was quoted as speaking, “To measure him (Gotze) on the basis of what he did that night (WC Final) is probably a little unfair. For a young man, it can be pretty tough to carry the burden of huge expectations.”

Gotze has not been able to score a single goal in the last three and half months as a result of which he has even lost his place in the starting XI of Bayern Munich.

He did not start for the Bundesliga champions in the European game versus Barcelona the other night.

Gotze’s overall career stat for Munich reads 30 goals in 92 games.