Arsenal manager Unai Emery has confirmed the reason why it was necessary to remove star midfielder Mesut Ozil from the game during the half time break on Wednesday evening.

The new Arsenal boss has not been afraid to leave out Ozil from his squad this season and the duo’s relationship appears to be a rough one at the moment, heading into the January transfer window.

Emery decided to exclude the German star from his team for several games until he sent him on as a substitute in the defeat away to Southampton.

Ozil was then left out of the clash with Tottenham in the League Cup a few days later but Emery changed his mind to hand the ex-Real Madrid star a start against Burnley.

The 30-year-old produced an improved display last Saturday as he earned another starting role on Wednesday against Brighton.

However, Emery substituted Ozil during half time to fuel the controversy once again and his explanation was that the change was only a ”tactical” move.

“It’s only tactical – we’ve changed the idea at half-time in other matches, with other players.” the Arsenal manager said in his post-match interview on Wednesday

“Today I thought to do it with Mesut, but it’s only tactical – not another problem”

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