No more sickies
Emery tells Ozil to shape up and get fit for purpose
MESUT OZIL is set to be given a lifeline and told to prove his worth to Arsenal by saving them from Europa League embarrassment against Belarusian minnows BATE Borisov.
The Arsenal playmaker has been left out of recent matches for “tactical reasons” with Arsenal boss Unai Emery concerned about his attitude in particular towards his defensive responsibilities.
This week former boss Arsene Wenger suggested the £350,000-a-week contract awarded to Ozil at the end of his tenure may have allowed the 30-year-old to enter into too much of a comfort zone.
When his predecessor’s comments were put to Emery at the press conference to preview tonight’s Europa League round of 32 second-leg clash with Borisov, the Arsenal manager spelled out more clearly than ever what he expects of Ozil if he is to have a hope of commanding a regular place in the team.
“I ask him in our conversations to be consistent and to be available for us training,” he said.
“I know he wants to play, but we need to be consistent and available in training and the matches without the injuries and without being sick. Like that, we can find and see the best Mesut with us.
“Mostly, the key is in his hand and he is working very well this week.”
The 1-0 defeat in Belarus was the 100th game Ozil has missed for Arsenal since arriving just five-and-a-half years ago.
Incredibly, since January 2017 he has been absent due to “illness” on seven separate occasions, as well as suffering a number of niggling injuries, before losing his place more recently on merit.
But with the team named after an agricultural vehicle company expected to park the tractor at the Emirates, Ozil’s inspiration could be precisely what Emery needs to avoid an embarrassing exit. Arsenal have lost eight of their last 11 knockout ties in a string of failures that led Emery to call an emergency team meeting before training yesterday to try to get his players’ minds right for the task ahead. He said: “First, the meeting was to do the summary and remember the opposition team. But also reminding everyone that they have 90 minutes, and even the possibility to play extra time.”
If Arsenal do need extra time and penalties then at least it will not be a late night – although UEFA’s decision to kick off the game at 5.55pm has been attacked by the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust.
The start was shifted to avoid a clash both locally and on TV with Chelsea’s home game against Malmo and the fear is the stadium will have vast swathes of empty seats despite the fixture technically being a sell-out.
“This is a totally unacceptable and inconvenient kick-off time for a vast number of Arsenal fans who have to travel to the game after work from across London, the South-east and further afield,” the AST wrote in an open letter.
“This is unfair on Arsenal supporters and will lead to a poor atmosphere in the stadium. Can you also give a reassurance that having been faced with this situation UEFA will ensure such scheduling does not occur again?”
UEFA initially wanted a 5pm kick-off, but are thought to be considering changing arrangements in future.
Going forward, if two clubs from the same city are drawn at home on the same night, only the one with the higher performance coefficient will be able to play their home game in the second leg.