Sky Sports Daily pundit Tony Cascarino has claimed Unai Emery will dispense with Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan because they don’t suit the new-look Arsenal.
The former striker is convinced that attacking midfield duo Ozil and Mkhitaryan lack the energy and physical attributes to suit the style of play implemented by the new Gunners manager.
Arsenal have been transformed by Emery and continued their impressive start to the season by coming from behind to draw 1-1 against Liverpool on Saturday.
“Arsenal feel like a completely different club under Unai Emery and one of the main reasons for that is that the fans believe in the team now,” Cascarino wrote in the Times. “Under Emery, they have won more points from losing positions than any other team, so the fans stay with the players.
“But I cannot see how Emery can keep both Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Özil in his team, given that power and tempo seem so important to the way he wants to play. Alex Iwobi has flourished under him and he deserves a starting place.”
OPINION
Mkhitaryan and Ozil certainly looked the odd couple for Arsenal against Liverpool, and that has been the case in all their marque matches this season. They were not miles off the pace, but playmaker Ozil and right-sided attacker Mkhitaryan are not ideally suited to the increasingly brutal speed of Premier League matches. To be the best, you have to be relentless out of possession and quick-thinking and dynamic in it. Both fit the latter category and are technically gifted and excellent on the ball, but are increasingly looked like something out of the unlamented Arsene Wenger era when it comes to the former. With Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey champing at the bit, Arsenal have some quality alternative options, and there is a sense that one or both of Ozil and Mkhitaryan will be eased out of the starting XI as winter and the team’s heavy schedule bites. Iwobi does not have Ozil’s eye-of-the-needle distribution but his physical attributes are starting to make him a more attractive starting option.