EPL: Paul Merson tells Emery two players he must drop from squad

Arsenal legend, Paul Merson has advised Unai Emery to drop Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil if he is to implement his new tactics successfully at the Emirates.

The Gunners have lost their two matches of the 2018/19 Premier League campaign against champions, Manchester City and Chelsea.

According to Merson, Ozil and Mkhitaryan lack the workforce and aggression to put pressure the way the Spaniard wants. He said he does not believe they fit in Emery’s new system.

“He hasn’t got the players to have a 20-yard gap between defence and attack, working hard. Ozil and Mkhitaryan are not those types of players,” Merson told Sky Sports.

“If you were building a team tomorrow, you’d want to play a high pressing game, work as a team, not to have gaps between the lines, and you’re not buying Ozil and Mkhitaryan.

“If you go the Arsene Wenger way, wanting to play entertaining, free-flowing, great football, then Ozil and Mkhitaryan will walk in any team in the world.

“But they will not get in teams that want to press!

“I don’t know if the current crop have gone past being able to learn that way of playing. That’s my concern. I don’t mean regarding their age, but in the way they play the game.

“Ozil’s future? I don’t know. I’m a big fan of him, he’s a quality player, but sometimes you watch him and the game passes him by,” he said.

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