Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has questioned Unai Emery’s motivation for substituting Mesut Ozil with 25 minutes left to go in the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday.

The German made an excellent assist for Ainsley Maitland-Niles to make the score 4-2 in the second half, before he was replaced by Matteo Guendouzi, and Merson thinks Emery may have taken the 31-year-old off because he was playing too well:

“How many other players in the world could have done what he did for the goal where he used his skill to get it back in play for a tap-in? But what happens? Emery takes him off with 25 minutes to go! It’s like he only took him off because he was playing too well.”

“It’s like he was worried that Ozil was playing so well he’d have to keep picking him, and Emery can’t have that because he’s trying to get him out.”

“It’s childish. But managers make weird decisions under pressure, and Emery is under pressure right now. He’s out of one competition and his team are not playing well at all.”

We will find out more this afternoon if Emery opts to start Ozil against Wolves. The playmaker’s performance midweek was enough to justify inclusion in the starting line up this weekend, but if he is benched again, there is surely no long term future for the player at the Emirates.

As Merson says, Emery is coming under increasing pressure and his decision on Ozil could prove critical in the fans’ patience towards the manager in matches over the coming weeks and months.