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Mesut Ozil is facing a battle to preserve his Arsenal future under manager Unai Emery, according to Gary Neville.
The Sky Sports pundit discussed Ozil’s situation at the Emirates Stadium and he feels there are already warning signs for the playmaker.
Per Metro, he said:
“Mesut Ozil, he can’t press from the front, so he’s basically got to give him an opportunity, give him enough rope to see what he’s going to do with it.
“The reality of it is he said to Mesut Ozil in the lead up to the second game you’ve got to work harder. That’s the first time I’ve publicly heard anyone call Mesut Ozil out and that’s after one game.
“Second game he hooks him and subs him. He’s working him out. He’s saying if you don’t want to press, if you don’t want to do what I’m saying you’ll be out of the team. He’s working out those players.
“The last thing he should do in my opinion with my experience, which was a bad one, is adapt and change because the players will walk all over him.”
Ozil is one of five captains selected by Emery for the season, along with Laurent Koscielny, Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka, though it was the goalkeeper who was handed the armband in Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City and 3-2 loss to Chelsea.
In the former, Ozil played 90 minutes but struggled to cause problems for the Sky Blues. In the latter, he was substituted for Ramsey after 68 minutes.
Football writer James McNicholas was pleased to see Emery taking the bold decision to withdraw his star playmaker:
gunnerblog @gunnerblog
Really enjoy how ruthless Emery is with his subs.
Sports journalist Kevin Palmer felt the German had put in an ineffectual performance against the Blues:
Kevin Palmer @RealKevinPalmer
Can I earn £350k a week for doing whatever Mesut Ozil does please? 😳 #AFC
Emery said he was pleased with Ozil’s contribution, though, per ESPN FC’s Liam Twomey:
Liam Twomey @liam_twomey
Emery on Ozil: “We need his help with his quality. Also I want to push him to be competitive every match. Today I’m happy with him. I changed him because we needed more in the middle to stop Chelsea progressing so easily in the middle” #cfc #afc
Ozil failing to convince in big games for Arsenal is nothing new, but the idea of him being substituted with the game level by former boss Arsene Wenger would have been almost inconceivable.
That Emery is willing to make difficult decisions is a positive sign for the Gunners and indicates the change he is bringing to the Emirates Stadium.
A firm hand was lacking at Arsenal under Wenger, which perhaps contributed to their tendency to crumble under pressure, and Ozil arguably embodied their struggles better than anyone.
Emery does not appear to be afraid to challenge him to raise his game, and Ozil will need to do so if he’s to remain an untouchable member of the squad.
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