Arsenal will not be traveling to Germany with their star player MesutOzil as per reports. The player is being rested for their Eintracht Frankfurt tie on Thursday despite playing only 71 minutes so far. The coach Unai Emery has come out to defend the choice of leaving out the former Real Madrid man.
Emery said he wants the midfielder to rest as his rotation plans come into effect. He said defender SokratisPapastathopoulos and Ozil will be rested for this game as he plans with 11 plans and rotates his squad of 19 fit players. The coach expects Ozil to feature in Aston Villa game as he would be physically and emotionally ready.
Ozil started the season with a scare after being attacked by armed robbers in London. He suffered an illness and had other emotional issues to sort out. Many expected that Ozil feature in the crucial game against Frankfurt aside him needing game time after being away for long.
The ‘Germany’ angle is another reason to be left out. He was booed by German football fans during a friendly with Saudi Arabia after being pictured with Turkish president RecepErdogan last year. He left on a terrible note from the international scene so it was probably not best to return not whilst not being in the right frame of mind in a key game.
Emery further explained that Ozil got some minutes against Watford and he appreciated his contributions. He wants a set to play on Thursday then he would rotate another set on Sunday against Villa.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is expected to feature until Hector Bellerin returns to full fitness. He admitted he is still learning the art of defending so the fans should be patient. The versatile player has been in central midfield and the wings but was the option.