Unai Emery says he was happy with the performance of all his players as Arsenal overcame Leicester 3-1 at the Emirates to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League to two points.
After Hector Bellerin deflected a Ben Chilwell cross into his own net to give the visitors a deserved lead on 31 minutes, the Gunners – captained by the majestic Mesut Ozil – turned on the style.
The German levelled the scores with a delightfully nonchalant strike just before the break, provided a key pass for Bellerin to set-up substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang just past the hour and then provided an assist as the Gabon international took his tally for the season to six in nine games.
A tenth successive win in all competitions means Unai Emery’s side climb back into third position. Afterwards, he was full of praise for his players.
“With every player today I’m very happy,” the Spaniard said. “Each player is giving us his quality, his capacity. We are demanding a lot of ourselves.”
He added: “It was good in the second half, and we finished well in the first half. We started cold maybe.
“The progression in the 90 minutes was good and we played with good attitude and level in our quality. The victory is a big one and we deserved it.
“A good result and good goals – the team was only missing the first 30 minutes.”
10 – Arsenal have won 10 consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time since October 2007 (a run of 12). Momentum. #ARSLEI pic.twitter.com/77lTK9g9vV
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 22, 2018
Having watched Ozil put in a performance befitting the captain’s armband, Emery was asked about the German’s leadership qualities. He was quick to demand even more from the midfielder.
“For Ozil today it was a very good performance. We are going to push and demand for ourselves and him this regularly.
“Did his leadership impress me? Yeah, yeah. It’s very important in this situation. But we have in the team a lot of players with this capacity. Because also each player with his quality or his capacity, he can help us.
He went on: “We have captains, very clear. And I think every player is very important. And I think [Ozil] can play every match with this commitment and with this quality, whether he is captain or not captain.
“We are going to demand for us every match and each player with this commitment and this behaviour.”
My captain oh captain
I back Mesut. Always.
Having not played the internationals, he can go to Portugal as well. Good for us.
Really, really like how Emery allows no complacency in his team. Every single interview he is always talking about how they need to improve. I like how he won’t allow a single performance or two to be offered as reasons why a player should keep his spot. He makes them prove themselves week-in, week-out, and that’s how a team progresses to the upper echelons.
Agreed.
No more free passes or credits for any player.
Even player as good as Wilshere & Ramsey have to be let go. No more free stay.
To be fair – Xhaka had 3 or 4 free passes and got a yellow which gave them a freekick in a good position. Not so happy with him.. Guendouzi did a great job when he came on
Thank you! I was looking for this. Every single time the media tries to over hype things, Emery still maintains a cool head and sees room for improvement. And why shouldn’t he? Our defense is still leaking goals (but is no one gonna mention how good Leno actually is?), we still start games slow etc. And to think he’s maintaining this view, even when we’re on a 10 winning game streak is all the more impressive. It makes sense now why his previous teams just have a habit of winning consistently, and I hope he brings that to Arsenal.
I think Emery has the winning attitude. Always pushing for better even when we win.
And he’d be right to – fun as this is right now, they still haven’t put in a complete performance, though they came close at Fulham. They way they’ve been winning reminds me of when Floyd Mayweather was at his peak – he would always give away a couple rounds at the beginning to figure out his opponent, then he’d grow into the fight and by the last 5 rounds he was just dominating. Weird comparison, I guess, but to me it feels like that right now. But it can’t last, so hopefully they can figure out how to burst… Read more »
To Arsene, we thank. In Emery, we trust.
If I may. Four hopes for Mezut Ozil:
1.) Be consistent. Play as hard as you can every game. That is all we can expect.
2.) Get on the ball. Good things usually happen when the ball is at your feet.
3.) Attack, attack, attack. That is what you do best and that is your real leadership quality.
4.) Enjoy your football, your only one of the best players on the planet. When you are at your best, it doesn’t get much better for us.
I really think having Iwobi play so good helps Mesut quite a bit. No one can sleep on Alex either, he made some really electrifying moves last night
“We started cold maybe.”
Hmm his way of saying “maybe we had the handbrake on a little bit”
Still think of you Wenger…and loving our potential at the minute. Very positive vibe in the stadium today, even when being 1-0 down!
It really is nice to just be able to enjoy Arsene Wenger again now there’s no weekly frustrations with his blindspots. I do miss hearing him talk regularly though. Hope he gets back in the game somewhere and shows everyone he’s still got it.
If we had won the game at Chelsea, we’d be alone at the top right now. The first 25 minutes in that match is the only reason we aren’t there now.
The losses in the first two matches are part of the reason this incredibly confident and hungry team was produced…. I have no complains…
We started cold maybe.
Superb performance by Ozil. Germany will rue letting things get so out of hand. He’s not the most convicted defensively but played in that sweet spot behind the striker(s), he will do damage. 3 Fantastic goals (One his, two assists) but he’s up to 4 goals this season if I’m not wrong. And should we sell Ramsey (who is also as Emery mentioned today best in similar position), we can shift Mhkitaryan as Ozil’s surrogate. What we can still benefit from is a speedy/tricky winger to add additional threat when need be from right or left and complement what iwobi… Read more »
ozil only got one assist, when he bottled it and passed to auba
Kinda funny. I wonder if you used to troll Usain Bolt: “not as fast as he looks.”
Arsenal did it ..Auba … kudos …
“And I think [Ozil] can play every match with this commitment and with this quality, whether he is captain or not captain.”
And that a scary prospect for any team facing Arsenal if UE can make it true.
I don’t know about a push, a shove more like it, majestic ozil, ha ha ha, he had an average game
Why do keep saying stupid things?
He is a troll; it’s not that he is an Arsenal supporter who happens to hate Ozil, it’s that he will say whatever he thinks will rile people the most.
probably employed by the kremlin
Bloggs please get Afan gone. It’s getting silly now.
acunt?
Permission granted!
play him at #10. surround him with hardworking tough midfielders who can shield him from being roughed up all the time and hold on to the ball. Have a winger and striker up front who can actually run and finish.
I hope the racist muslim-hating turk-baiting immigrant-bashing people who picked on Mesut know that there is a special place in hell reserved for them…where they will have to watch Man U under Mourinho replays while being roasted alive.
It is amazing how in 3 months Emery has improved the squad, coached the players, made the fans be supportive, made the referees be fairer and the media more friendly. Simply amazing.