After Mesut Ozil captained Arsenal to a 5-1 ICC win over PSG, Unai Emery feels the German is capable of donning the armband moving forward.
Arsenal coach Unai Emery has said he believes Mesut Ozil is one of several players who could captain his team next season.
Ozil was captain for the 5-1 International Champions Cup (ICC) win over Paris Saint-Germain in Singapore on Saturday, scoring along with Alexandre Lacazette (two), Rob Holding and Eddie Nketiah as a strong team coasted to victory.
“We are working together and giving the responsibility to the players,” Emery said after the match.
“I think he can take the responsibility, but let’s not forget [Laurent] Koscielny, who is recovering with us. Then we’ve got Petr Cech, who captained us in a friendly match. Aaron Ramsey also captained us in a friendly, and I am maybe thinking another one or two players can take responsibility for every player in the team.”
Ozil played in his favoured No. 10 role against PSG, with Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on either side and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front, but Emery said he could also be deployed on the right.
“We want to give him and our players the position they feel most comfortable in on the pitch. He started today at No. 10,” he said.
“It depends because Mesut can 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.”
Ozil opened the scoring, beating Gianluigi Buffon from a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang assist after 13 minutes, but Emery said he felt there was still room for improvement in his team ahead of the start of the Premier League season.
“I want to improve this pressing,” he added. “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.”
Information from ESPN FC’s Arsenal correspondent Mattias Karen was used in this report.
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