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Unai Emery insists Mesut Ozil still has role at Arsenal despite being left out again
Unai Emery has claimed Mesut Ozil still has a role to play over the coming weeks for Arsenal.
Ozil was once again left out of Emery’s starting line-up and did not come off the substitutes’ bench in the victory over Chelsea.
Arsenal are thought to be willing to subsidise some of Ozil’s £350,000-a-week wages to get rid of him, but head coach Emery has not ruled out bringing the German back into his team.
Ozil has not started or played for Arsenal since Boxing Day, when he was substituted at half-time against Brighton, and Emery said: “Today he was OK to play but we decided not to play him. I spoke with him. I wanted him to be ready for the match today and for the next matches with the spirit like all the players in the team.
“Today I have the confidence with him if he played. I think he could do like we wanted. The next matches we are going to need every player and also his quality.”
Emery preferred Aaron Ramsey to Ozil for the Chelsea game, even though the Welshman has agreed to move to Juventus on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season.
“The circumstance with Ramsey we spoke about three months ago,” said Emery. “The decision is finished for him and the club. Now I am very, very happy with him because the last month his focus with us has been very clear. His future is very important for his family but for us it’s very important for him to be OK to play like he did today.
“Two weeks ago when we travelled to Blackpool in the FA Cup, when the match was more difficult for the atmosphere and the pitch is not good, he said to me ‘I want to play and help the team’. This is the spirit, to want to play. Today I didn’t need to ask him because I knew he wanted to play against Chelsea. He played with a good mentality and helped us with his quality.”
Arsenal rattled Chelsea with their pressing and work-rate, but Emery warned his side cannot play like that against every opponent ahead of the FA Cup tie against Manchester United and Premier League games against Cardiff and Manchester City.
“This result today is the consequence of the good work in this idea (pressing),” said Emery. “But each match is different. Sometimes we are going to play against the team who will play the long ball straight away and then there is not a lot of possibility to do the pressing like today.
“We need another idea to win against a team that plays like that. The next matches against Manchester United and Cardiff will be different. Today we needed we do this pressing and we did it for the win.”