Spurs silence Emirates to set up two-legged semi-final with Chelsea
Thursday 20 December 2018 08:58, UK
Unai Emery refused to be drawn on Mesut Ozil's future after he was left out of Arsenal's Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Tottenham.
The Germany international watched from the stands as goals from Heung-min Son and Dele saw Spurs avenge their north London derby defeat at the Emirates.
Asked why Ozil was omitted from the matchday squad, Emery told his post-match press conference: "Tactical decision.
"The players that were with us today were best for this match. We have 24-25 players, whether one plays or another doesn't, the decision is for me and today it was tactical."
Quizzed whether he would be open to letting Ozil leave Arsenal in January, Emery added: "My focus now is analyzing this match and also Saturday, Burnley is very important.
"Tomorrow we are going to train with every player. I am thinking about Saturday and not thinking about another situation.
"Every player is important and one I decided didn't play and that was tactical."
The defeat saw Arsenal slip to back-to-back defeats for the first time since August, when the opening two games of Emery's tenure ended to losses to Manchester City and Chelsea.
Asked to sum up the Gunners' performance, Emery added: "We worked like we wanted and how we prepared for this match.
"We were good in the first half but we needed to keep the ball and possession, but it was not easy because they press very well.
"We created chances to score in the first half but were not efficient. They have good players with quality, we didn't take our chances, they scored theirs.
"I am happy with our performance but not the result. We are in a process, they [Spurs] are ahead of us in the process.
"We need to continue with our identity, our strong ideas to be more consistent in games.
"Now we are finished in this competition but we are thinking about Saturday in the Premier League. We have three competitions which are very important."
