Frankfurt vs Arsenal - Emery insists Ozil needs rest despite playing just 71 minutes this season - 7M sport

Frankfurt vs Arsenal - Emery insists Ozil needs rest despite playing just 71 minutes this season



Posted Thursday, September 19, 2019 by PA

Frankfurt vs Arsenal - Emery insists Ozil needs rest despite playing just 71 minutes this season

Unai Emery insists Mesut Ozil needs rest despite playing just 71 minutes of football this season as the Arsenal head coach left the forward at home for the Europa League tie with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ozil, 30, had not featured at all this season until he started Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw at Watford.

He missed the start of the season after being the target of an attempted carjacking alongside team-mate Sead Kolasinac, while illness also saw him miss out.

Ozil regained his fitness but was still left on the sidelines until the weekend.

He retired from international football with Germany last year amid controversy and, on what would have been his first return to play in the country, he would have no doubt been in for a hostile reception from a fervent Frankfurt crowd.

But instead Emery offered up the rather bizarre excuse that Ozil was instead being rested alongside Sokratis Papastathopoulos – who has played every minute of the opening five Premier League games of the season.

“We are playing now a lot of matches and I want to use different players and also can have some rotation in the first 11 and in the 19 players in the squad for tomorrow and Sokratis and Mesut they rest this match,” he said.

Frankfurt vs Arsenal - Emery insists Ozil needs rest despite playing just 71 minutes this season
Sokratis Papastathopoulos is also being rested (John Walton/PA)

“I prefer after the Sunday match to rest that match and to train and to be ready for Sunday.

“Because we are going to play another match on Sunday. My decision is because he played and also I’m thinking tomorrow the focus and the first 11.

“After that I decided who are the players who can be the best for tomorrow and also the players not and that is Sokratis and Mesut.

“Really the first match he played on Sunday, he played well and was good physically – also giving us his capacity and skills and after his first minutes (of the season) it was good for us.

“Now he is ready to help us, not tomorrow but on Sunday – we are going to play another match and tomorrow we are thinking to do some rotation.”

Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Adi Hutter insists his side cannot read too much into Arsenal’s second-half capitulation at Watford.

Frankfurt, who lost on penalties to Chelsea in the semi-final of last year’s competition before the Blues went on to beat Arsenal in the final, will be keen to show they can still compete despite a summer of change.

Attacking trio Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller and Ante Rebic accounted for 56 of the 90 goals scored by the club last season but all were sold during the summer.

Frankfurt vs Arsenal - Emery insists Ozil needs rest despite playing just 71 minutes this season
West Ham hotshot Sebastien Haller swapped Eintracht Frankfurt for London in the summer (Aaron Chown/PA)

But Hutter believes Frankfurt can continue to build on where they left off, even if he does not expect Arsenal to be as poor as they were at the weekend.

“I saw the game against Watford,” he told reporters at his pre-match press conference.

“They were lucky to have not lost after a 2-0 lead. Nevertheless, I would not tie everything to it. They try to play football from the back.

“Their philosophy is clearly recognisable and I assume that they will perform accordingly tomorrow.

“On the other hand, we need a clear plan and we have both the solutions and the resources.”

Hutter also conceded that anticipation has grown following an unexpected run to the last four of the Europa League but believes everyone at the club remains grounded.

“Certainly the expectations have increased,” he added.

“The past season was exceptional with the semi-final and a total of 14 games. The bar is high, but we remain modest and still want to get as far as possible.

“Because of our achievements and the fact that we almost reached the final we are perceived differently.”



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