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23rd August 2018
06:17pm BST

"He hasn't got the players to have a 20-yard gap between defence and attack, working hard. Ozil and Mkhitaryan are not those type of players," Merson told Sky Sports.
"If you were building a team tomorrow, you'd want to play a high pressing game, work as a team, not to have gaps between the lines, and you're not buying Ozil and Mkhitaryan. "If you go the Arsene Wenger way, wanting to play entertaining, free-flowing, great football, then Ozil and Mkhitaryan will walk in any team in the world. But they will not get in teams that want to press! "I don't know if the current crop have gone past being able to learn that way of playing. That's my concern. I don't mean regarding their age, but in the way they play the game."
Merson isn't wrong. Mkhitaryan proved at Borussia Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel that he can play as part of a team that presses the opposition high, but there is little to suggest that Ozil can do likewise.
The German playmaker is a gifted footballer, but largely ineffective when out of possession. Starting both Ozil and Mkhitaryan in the same team also means one will have to play out wide, and neither are likely to track back when the opposition beat Arsenal's press.
While both could run riot against weaker opponents at home - starting with West Ham on Saturday - having them in the team together for matches against elite opponents could be a luxury Emery can't afford to take in the future.Explore more on these topics: