New Arsenal manager Unai Emery further explained his decisions from the sidelines during the clash with Chelsea on Saturday evening.

The Gunners boss watched his side fight back from two goals down to even up the score at 2-2, going into the half-time break.

After retaining several of the players who featured last week in his starting eleven on Saturday, Emery realised that his team was not completely at its best during the first 45 minutes.

That saw him withdraw Granit Xhaka from the game at half time, a decision which his predecessor Arsene Wenger rarely made at the break.

But Emery has revealed that Xhaka’s withdrawal was largely a tactical move.

“This is a tactical decision because he also had a yellow card.” the Arsenal manager said

“We didn’t want to take the risk with the yellow card and we wanted to give a chance to other players we have in the middle.”

Xhaka was of course one of the most criticised players by fans last season as the Gunners finished the campaign with the worst defensive record in the top six of the Premier League.

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