Arsenal manager Unai Emery has explained how he plans to utilise Mesut Ozil in his formation for the 2018-19 season.
The midfielder put a difficult week behind him by scoring the opener in Arsenal's 5-1 win over a second-string Paris Saint-Germain side in Saturday's International Champions Cup clash in Singapore.
Ozil, who called time on his career with the national team last weekend amid allegations of racism, was deployed further forward than usual and proved key as the Gunners put the French champions to the sword.
"We want to give him and our players the best position they feel most comfortable in on the pitch," Emery told The Independent. "He started today at number 10 with Matteo [Guendouzi] and Mohamed [Elneny] behind him. The first one would go up and then find him between the lines, or sometimes [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan.
"When we do have the ball, we can press with the striker and a number 10 almost like a 4-4-2 in a press. But it depends because Mesut can also play on the right and go inside, driving in to open up space for the right-back.
"We want to find a space for him and the other players where they can use their qualities through good positioning. I think in the first half today we played good with quality players, but I want to improve this pressing. In the second half they were tired, but the young players gave us the pressing back and allowed us to change our positions and play with three in midfield."
Ozil has made close to 200 appearances for the Gunners since his 2013 move from Real Madrid.
Giuseppe Labellarte
