Press conference

Emery - Why I decided not to play Ozil

Mesut Ozil was named among the substitutes for our trip to Bournemouth - and in the end he wasn’t required as we edged to a 2-1 win.

Unai Emery’s decision to play three at the back meant we had one less offensive player on the pitch, and the head coach opted for Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan behind centre forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

“We thought how we can be better in the match today, which is very demanding with the physicality and the intensity, but every player is important,” said Unai.

“[Bringing Ozil on] depended on how the match was going, how it is going in the 90 minutes, and I decided for another option. In the beginning of the season we were speaking every day about being organised and competitive - and it’s the same today.

“Also today we tried with three centre backs like we’ve done at some stages this season, and it’s another possibility for us to improve and find our best performance.”