EPL: Unai Emery reveals why he dropped Ozil for 2-1 win at Bournemouth

Arsenal manager, Unai Emery, has suggested Mesut Ozil was not up for the fight against Bournemouth, as they stretched their unbeaten run to a 17th game with a 2-1 victory.

Ozil was an unused substitute and did not even take part in the pre-match warm-up.

Emery afterwards explained that he preferred to use players who could cope physically.

“We thought how we can be better in the match, a very demanding match with physicality and intensity.

“But every player is important. We worked today and it is another possibility to improve or find our best performance in the squad.

“In the beginning of the season we were speaking every day about the need to be competitive. We need to be organised, we need the individual quality to improve our performance.

“It’s the same today. It depends. It depends how the match is going, what the result is. I decided for another option. We knew this is a difficult stadium, a difficult team.

“Seventeen matches we haven’t lost, but the last three matches we drew. We know that is not enough for us, for our objectives.

“A lot of matches are coming up – Tottenham, Manchester United. And also we are going to play against teams with the same objectives as us,” he told Sky Sports.

Ozil has started 10 of the Gunners’ 13 league games so far this season.