Unai Emery says he has no problem with the way that Mesut Ozil reacted when he was substituted during today’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The Arsenal boss insisted it was normal that a player is disappointed when they’re taken off, so the sight of the German throwing his gloves away wasn’t a surprise to him.
The Gunners were leading 2-1 at the time, but struggling to maintain any control, and subsequently conceded a second goal from the penalty spot to drop two points.
On Ozil’s reaction Emery said, “It is normal not to be happy. I like the players like him who show the character when we are not playing well, and when I substituted him at 2-1 usually every player wants to continue playing.”
And when asked why he took him off to deploy Danny Welbeck as a number 10, he continued, “In the last match away in the Premier League, against Fulham, we played like that and did a very good job.
“I think we lost a little of our possession with the ball and the match was more about the transition, like in our last matches.
“Also, with Danny and Laca, I wanted to find one good transition between two players and also more goals. Also, in free-kicks defensively, they were pushing and put a ninth player on the pitch for free-kicks to find more chances to score.
“Danny Welbeck is very good in these situations, both defensively and offensively.”
Arsenal remain unbeaten in the league since the Chelsea game back in August, and face Liverpool at the Emirates next weekend.
It’s nice to hear specific reasons as to why the change was made. I have to agree with Emery.
It feels great listening to discussion on specific tactics. Comforting to know that proper thought is going into how we carry out our game.
I think he got it wrong today with subs as the game was completely open at time and Ozil can operate on break like no other in our team. Still 22 out of 24 points is great form.
Agreed. I find Emery’s quotes on his subs a bit confusing. He wants goals, but he takes off one of his best creators to put on a striker/wing? I thought at the time of Ozil’s coming off, that we needed more midfield, and someone on the ball. All it takes is one pass from Ozil, and then it would have been game over.
Ozil set up both Lacazette and Bellerin and they both missed but I take your point. I’d have preferred Ozil left on and Lacazette subbed for Welbeck. I don’t think Lacazette was anywhere near his best today.
Bringing in Welbeck, especially because of his height, seems reasonable–but wouldn’t it have made more sense to take off Iwobi?
But Ozil didnt play anywhere good. Stop moaning about what decisions.
I hope our left backs will be back for the liver pool game
Not sure how to feel about today. One thing for sure is that it was a cracking match — super competitive, and it felt great to KNOW that we were up for it and going to go toe to toe in a scrappy game, rather than second guess ourselves. That apart, the mistakes were obvious. Not sure how much to hold Lacazette acountable for the second goal, for example. Sure, a bad pass, and not the best option. But there was a fair bit between that and the goal. I’m not worrying too much about this performance for now. Will… Read more »
Good explanation for those just saying he “got his subs wrong” (thanks captain handsight). At least you can see the logic to his actions.
Sorry but when pressed, our midfield 2 needed an extra man to work for them and defend them. This is the great weakness of Ozil and people still act surprised (particularly away from home).
He started him, it wasn’t working, he changed it. Simples.
We didn’t hold the ball and got a second. Simple.
Not so simples…if we want to use “simples” as an analogy then….we were ahead when we took him off and when he did come off we conceded. I am not saying the reason for conceding was ozil going off but get away from these “simples” analogies cos it ain’t so simple.
Simples.
As if this was a big issue…. who ever likes being dragged? He looked OK enough to chat to Roy at the end. On to scousers now. Boy do they need a hammering.
Imagine the scenes if we managed to beat them. Solid confidence booster.
Hard to Complain if win 11 games and draw the 12th. we can go on a winning run again.
This Ozil performance was typical of what we’ve seen since Febuary, one top performance last Monday doesn’t change the fact he’s been shit. As much as I enjoyed his performance last Monday, I’d still ditch him like a bad habit at the earlies possibility, that’s providing we could get anyone to take him? I think our best bet would be Turkey or the States. Aubameyang will always get you goals, but he’s not a wide midfielder. Having two top strikers is a nice problem to have… Providing you don’t end up shoehorning them into a disfunctional system. As much as… Read more »
In hindsight, Ramsey would have been a better option instead of Welbeck. We needed some control in the middle.
Also continuing with Lacazette and iwobi for the whole 90 mins might not have been the best option. They were also pretty poor tonight.
Substitutions didn’t work tonight but they have been pretty good for the past few games. Hope we reduce such mistakes in decision making going forward.
Sign Zaha..he is a beast,very good one on one
And perfected the Ashley Young dive?
Ozil deserved to be subbed, and I think he knows it. He had a stinker today. It’s nice to see that we have a manager who’s ruthless and doesn’t give a damn about reputations. If our German friend doesn’t want to get hooked then he should turn up in matches like this. Unlike those who played in Portugal on Thursday, Ozil doesn’t have an excuse for such a poor display. Today’s game highlighted the major problem that we have at the club right now: we just don’t have enough quality defensive players. How did we end up with Xhaka at… Read more »
When will Ozil deliver strong back to back displays?
Can people voting down explain why criticising Ozil for inconsistency is unjustified?
Exactly. Enough of the sanctimony people, it’s obvious that Ozil has a consistency problem.
it’s a FatGooner comment……that alone is normally worth about 15 red thumbs 🙂
(i thumbed up btw)
You know, it’s possible to be aware that you’re having a bad game AND be pissed at being subbed BECAUSE you know you deserve it. Instead of assuming it’s petulence or ego, one might see it as [gasp] competitiveness.
To be fair, you’ve inferred that Fats has assumed it’s petulance or ego. Nowhere in his post does he mention that. Just to note, Ashley Cole couldn’t get a new contract with LA Galaxy, so I think that’s a pretty bad idea if serious. Plus, he’s a twat. Oh, and we ended up with Xhaka at left back because BOTH 1st and 2nd choice left backs are injured, plus a youngster that could have played there at a stretch has just come back from a broken leg. I think everybody thinks we should get a left back in the summer,… Read more »
I think he was just upset he could not influence the match like the last one. Its a good thing in that case that he is frustrated. But as mention before, he isn’t the sort of player to pull us up when we are in a bit of a rut. It was a bit of a battle today both against a committed Palace side and against our own tiredness from midweek. Iwobi in particular looked flat and considering it isn’t anywhere near a position he should be comfortable in, Granit was a mistake waiting to happen. That he stayed in… Read more »
I didn’t like his reaction, he should’ve shook the manager’e hand when he asked for a shake. Embarrassing!
Agreed, unprofessional and not the best example.
This result confirms the defence is still a work in progress.As for the two penalties,dont blame them.The defenders thought they could get away with the
tackles.
Arsenal have a problem since Wenger’s time when teams get physical.Pool may play
another physical battle. The terrier like Torreira is no match for the CP mastiff.
Emery’s passing game slows down the attack.Why not go for Welbeck whose running will send defenders retreating.
Hopefully Arsenal can beat Pool.The positive side of the draw is it gives the gunners
another chance to start another run,this time against more capable teams.
I thought ozil should have been subbed for ramsey at half time, throwing his gloves off was a nice piece for the cameras, and he should be benched for the next match
Being angry or disappointed is one thing, throwing tantrums like what he did was petulant, and downright disrespectful. Hats off for Emery for not taking it too much.
Xhaka on the other hand, was shifted to left back albeit does not has what it takes to perform there, sticked to his responsibility and scored a cracker of a free kick – even celebrated with the man who put him there! (By the way, I’m not Xhaka’s biggest fan).