Former Arsenal defender Mathew Upson has said that Gunners boss Unai Emery took a bold step to bench Mesut Ozil for the weekend Premier League triumph at Bournemouth. The north London side were expecting a tough trip to the South Coast on Sunday and in order to curb the attacking threat, Emery went with a 3-4-3 formation which worked with good effect.
However, with that setup, it meant that one of the attackers had to be dropped and the Spaniard revealed after the game that Ozil was excluded from the starting XI as he would not have been able to match to the physical demands on the day. In a report by The Star, Upson happened to praise Emery for the decision but also suggested that the manager has provided a big statement by doing so.
Continue reading →