Former Arsenal midfielder, Emmanuel Petit has slammed German midfielder, Mesut Ozil’s for his poor performance in the Gunners’ 3-1 defeat last weekend at the Etihad, labelling the playmaker “a ghost.”
Manchester City dismantled their North London opponents on Sunday and moved 12 points ahead of them.
While the disapproval of Ozil was largely from supporters, former Gunners Petit has offered his opinion on the situation.
Petit said in his Paddy Power column, “Arsene Wenger was honest after the game, acknowledging his opponents as the superior side.
“But in the first half, he was too shy. He was afraid of Manchester City and his team were passive as a result. I think more substitutions should have been made in the midfield area: Ozil was on the pitch, but he was just a ghost.
“Arsene said before the game on Sunday that Arsenal would come to the Etihad to attack. He wanted his team to score goals and not to defend, but in the first half he made some tactical errors that made this approach impossible.
“Firstly, it was wrong to put Francis Coquelin in central defence. Coquelin was booed by some fans midweek at home in the Europa League – he couldn’t have gone into this game with any degree of confidence.
“So it was a strange decision to start him in an unfamiliar position against the most dangerous attacking side in the league.
“To be fair to Arsene, he tried something different, but it was a mistake. Arsenal never really threatened City in the first period and he was forced to change his mind at half-time – which worked almost immediately.”
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