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Mesut Ozil: The real reason Arsenal star was DROPPED against Bournemouth - Alan Smith
MESUT OZIL was dropped for Arsenal’s visit to Bournemouth on Sunday - and Gunners legend Alan Smith was not surprised by the decision.
Arsenal: Unai Emery says he has 'very big demands'
Ozil, 30, had started the previous four Premier League matches under Unai Emery.
However, he was left on the bench for the trip to Bournemouth, as Arsenal looked to make it 17 games unbeaten in all competitions.
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Emery named three central defenders in the starting XI as he appeared to switch to a three-at-the-back formation for the first time in his short reign.
This is effectively a 3-4-3 so if he was to play he would be on one of the flanks and I don’t think that gets the best out of him
And Smith says Mesut Ozil is a victim of the formation change, claiming there was no position in the side that suits him.
“Well actually not all that surprised,” he said on Sky Sports.
“In Unai Emery we’ve got a manager that will pick according to the occasion and who he thinks will suit that.
“He’s a great one for studying videos and cutting up the analysis himself, spends hours on end in his office doing that.
“In this formation I think it is harder to find a place for Ozil.
“He wants him and when he has played him he has played in the middle.
“This is effectively a 3-4-3 so if he was to play he would be on one of the flanks and I don’t think that gets the best out of him.
“And it’s just the new regime under a manager that thinks a little differently to the predecessor.”
Despite their impressive unbeaten run, Arsenal had drawn four of their last five games in all competitions.
Summer-signing Sokratis Papastathopoulos came into the team to make his first league appearance since September.
Alexandre Lacazette missed the match due to a tight groin.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi were preferred to Ozil in the wide positions.