Ozil picked wrong guy for a fight
let an ill player come into close proximity with the rest of the squad? “It is a good question,” said Emery. “My English is not good but I prefer that if he feels good, he stays with us here and not at home.
“Maybe tomorrow if another player is sick also, that is because of me.”
Clearly, Emery is not overly concerned about the consequences of anybody catching Ozil’s particular illness. However, it was the single-word answer to the final question the head coach was asked that said most: when the pair spoke on Thursday, did Emery have in mind a different position for Ozil?
“Maybe,” he said. Left wing, left-back or left out completely, Ozil’s main problem now is that Arsenal did so much better without him. The same defensive frailties were there, hideously exposed by Marko Arnautovic’s opener in the 25th minute.
But with more energy up front, Arsenal quickly equalised thanks to Nacho Monreal, edged in front courtesy of Issa Diop’s owngoal, then rubberstamped their victory through sub Danny Welbeck. The Hammers remain winless but showed signs of promise here, with Robert Snodgrass catching the eye as he attempts to make the most of the chance Manuel Pellegrini has given him to resurrect his West Ham career.
After signing for £7million in January last year, he was loaned out for the whole of last season to Aston Villa and seemed set for a permanent exit in the summer.
But Snodgrass has had a significant part in all three games so far this season and is determined to do everything in his power to see off the selection challenge of Pellegrini’s big new signings.
“The new manager did not say this just to me – he said it to everybody,” said Snodgrass. “It’s a clean slate, ‘Who wants to take their chance?’ I have got a chance and I am comfortable, I’m happy.
“I always believed I could score goals and create goals and play in the team. I have done it since I was 15. In every league I have been in, I have always scored goals.
“I was the top goalscorer at Norwich in the Premier League and I was the top goalscorer at Hull. It’s about being part of the team, being around the lads. They know that this lad will work his socks off.”
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Booked: