Gary Neville: Ozil is already fighting for his Arsenal future

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Bengaluru, August 22: Arsenal attacker Mesut Ozil is already fighting to save his Arsenal career under Unai Emery, according to former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.

We are just two games into the new Premier League season but in both those matches, Arsenal's new number 10 failed to produce any magic in the field. The German playmaker was nowhere close to his best during the matches against Manchester City and Chelsea and was duly scrutinized by his new gaffer for his low work-rate in the season-opening losses. He was even replaced by Aaron Ramsey in the second half of the game against Chelsea when the scoreline was still 2-2.

Emery, soon after being announced as the new coach, named Ozil as one of his five captains. After the shaky display so far, the Spaniard will have to reconsider his options.

But it's evident that Emery will not entertain any complacency from his players and will even take them off if they are not producing their best on the pitch, a trait that his predecessor Arsene Wenger should have adopted last season.

And Neville, while discussing Ozil's situation along with fellow pundit Jamie Carragher, suggested that he believes Ozil has failed to convince Emery that he is worthy of the No 10 jersey. Neville feels some cracks have already developed in Ozil’s relationship with the manager.

"Mesut Ozil, he can't press from the front, so he's basically got to give him an opportunity, give him enough rope to see what he's going to do with it," Neville said. "The reality of it is he said to Mesut Ozil in the lead up to the second game you've got to work harder. That's the first time I've publicly heard anyone call Mesut Ozil out and that's after one game.

"Second game he hooks him and subs him. He's working him out. He's saying if you don't want to press, if you don't want to do what I'm saying you'll be out of the team. He's working out those players.

"The last thing he should do in my opinion with my experience, which was a bad one, is adapt and change because the players will walk all over him."

It was thought that Ozil would be waiting to go all out in the Premier League given Germany's disastrous FIFA World Cup 2018 campaign and the allegations of discrimination that followed. However, Ozil's performance has been of concern lately for the Gunners.

They will next play West Ham at home this weekend and the German will certainly look forward to the game to adjust his numbers again.