Arsenal: Is Unai Emery willing to die on Mesut Ozil hill?

Arsenal manager Unai Emery is making his stance on Mesut Ozil clear. And the deeper he goes, the harder it will be to back out of it.

Arsenal lacked a clear link-up between midfield and attack against West Ham. They were sloppy in transition and didn’t seem to have anyone on the team capable of being a central figure in the middle of the pitch, who could break down the defense with their vision.

Naturally, some feel as though Mesut Ozil would have ben the perfect solution. Honestly, I don’t think he would have made a lick of difference, because the dude is an enigma, but I understand why people feel the void was perfect for Ozil.

Unai Emery, meanwhile, came out after the match and explained that he left Ozil out of the match because he chose the players he wanted to play and Ozil wasn’t one of them. Injury be damned, this was another tactical decision by Emery to exclude the highest paid player in Arsenal history.

Frankly, I greatly admire Emery’s cajones. Forget the money being paid to Ozil, he doesn’t like how the man fits in our club, and he isn’t going to kow-tow to him just because he carries a big reputation and gets a lot of money.

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It’s a problem Arsene Wenger had – he couldn’t sit Ozil. No matter what happened, he refused to sit Ozil. To the point that it was incredibly frustrating.

Emery is taking the complete opposite stance. He is finding it almost impossible to start Ozil. And he has gone really deep into this stance of dropping him for tactical reasons, to the point that he either has to die on this hill, or be criticized for second-guessing.

At this point, if he goes back to starting Ozil every match and Ozil flops as he is known to do, questions will be asked why an ineffective player is being used when he was so removed previously.

The only way this works out well for both is if Ozil gets back into the good graces of Unai Emery and earns his spot back on the team, as he expressed an interest in doing. Only then will any sort of reversal be justified.

I haven’t a clue who will win out in this one, though in the current state of the club, I have to give the upper hand to Emery. I admire a man who is willing to completely remove a player who isn’t a good fit, despite that player making more money than any two players combined.