Arsenal boss Unai Emery thinks that Mesut Ozil should take his fair share of defensive responsibilities this season. Arsenal lost their Premier League opener to Manchester City and have another tough game today against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Regarding Ozil’s defensive duties, Emery said, “Every player needs to [defend] in the true moment of a match. There are defensive moments and attacking moments. Every player each needs this commitment. For me, we need to start together, whether we are attacking or defending. I want that from every player.
The position, [Ozil] is playing all his career like a number 10-player, like a right-winger going inside to receive the ball. It’s clear he needs the ball more to give more options in the attacking moments. He needs to do [it] in each match, be demanding for us but defensive moments are for each and every player.”
The Spaniard deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation against Manchester City. However, he said that the future of the formation depends on the team’s performance. Unai Emery said, “It depends on the performance and if the performance is good. I want to give them the chances in each match and maybe we need a lot of matches for the chances for every player but we started with the pre-season and every player is playing for chances and minutes and with all the competitions.
We only play Sunday, Sunday, Sunday but in September we will start playing Sunday and Thursday and also we are going to play more matches and I think every player will get chances to show us his performance for the team.”
