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Arsenal: How Unai Emery can bring success back to the Emirates

By Mahith Gamage

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 22: Head coach Unai Emery of Sevilla FC gives instructions during the Copa del Rey Final match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC at Vicente Calderon Stadium on May 22, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 22: Head coach Unai Emery of Sevilla FC gives instructions during the Copa del Rey Final match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC at Vicente Calderon Stadium on May 22, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images) /
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The X-Factor – Mesut Ozil

Getting the best out of Mesut Ozil in a modern system could make or break Unai Emery’s tenure at Arsenal.

Mesut Ozil is currently on a stunning £350k/week contract at Arsenal. This means they cannot afford to make him unhappy. Ozil is often marked as lazy, but this is due to his languid and elegant style of play, as many have mentioned in the past.

You may not picture him playing effectively in a high-intensity pressing side, but Ozil has the ability to make an impact in this team. This all depends if Emery plays his cards right.

I don’t think anyone believes Ozil can transform into a tireless, pressing machine as he is currently in his late-20’s, but the German can be asked to do what he does best – think two steps ahead.

The way Arsenal can get the best out of their new system is to mark Mesut Ozil as their X-factor. Allow his teammates to engage in all the tireless pressing duties, while Ozil himself looks for open space when his team doesn’t have the ball.

Therefore, when Arsenal inevitably win the ball back, he will already have a clear picture of the counter-attack in mind. When Ozil gets the time and space to think two or three steps ahead of the play, this is when he can absolutely kill his opponents.

We’ve seen this sort of method with Emery’s former team this past year in PSG. Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe would drop slightly deeper to help form a defensive shape, while Neymar drifted into space when his side didn’t have the ball.

As we know, this allowed PSG to be absolutely devastating on the counter-attack – something we could see with Arsenal very soon.

Next: Is Bernd Leno on his way to Arsenal

If Unai Emery can complete these tasks, Arsenal could be more successful in the coming seasons.

It’s no secret that he has an uphill battle ahead of him at the Emirates. He has a squad filled with underachieving, stagnating players that never seems to show up when it matters. Along with improving Arsenal’s defensive movements, Emery must bring a modern style of play to the Gunners, and focus on fitting Mesut Ozil seamlessly into his XI, to have any success.

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