This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Unai Emery spoke glowingly about Mesut Ozil when asked about the midfielder prior to Arsenal’s match against Leicester City, as reported by the club’s official channels.
What did they say?
With Dani Ceballos injured and Granit Xhaka not participating in the Leicester match following recent incidents, the likelihood of Ozil getting game time against the Foxes will have increased.
Emery has cited this game as a must-win for the team, and a few months ago he may have been groaning at the idea of relying on the midfielder, considering he revealed in October there is an agreement in place with his paymasters which means he’s not obliged to play Ozil, as reported by The Telegraph.
However, he spoke glowingly about Ozil ahead of Saturday’s important match: “He’s training well and I think he’s now being consistent in the training, he’s also helping and he’s also positive. I am thinking about him for tomorrow, for the possibility to play.”
Watch Arsenal Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below
Changing relations
The way in which he complimented the Arsenal number 10 could be a sign of changing relations between player and manager.
This point is only further accentuated when looking at the Spaniard’s former statements regarding the midfielder. The bluntness he showed after omitting Ozil from the squad for a fifth game in a row last month, as reported by The Metro, highlights this: ‘Tonight is not the day to speak about that. He’s not in the squad. That is the decision tonight. Now we are going to work towards Sunday.”
Going back to last season too, Emery quite openly discussed why he’d left Ozil out of his squad that travelled to Bournemouth, revealing that the fixture was too demanding for the light-weight creator. Hardly a glowing endorsement of arguably Arsenal’s best player on paper.
There is a complete contrast between those comments and Emery’s latest, which indicates that Ozil may have turned things around and got himself in the manager’s good books, especially with his application in training being mentioned.
Ozil has only made two Premier League starts this season, so if he adds a third in a game that has been labelled as hugely important by the gaffer, it may be the beginning of his season and relationship with Emery picking up.
