Arsenal boss Unai Emery has been in the spotlight in recent times mostly for suggestions of freezing out Mesut Ozil from the first team, but that has not stopped the Spaniard from finding fault with another star at the London club. According to Emery, Lucas Torreira is in a similar position to Mesut Ozil at Arsenal because of his inconsistency.

Emery believes Ozil’s form has been too inconsistent this season, a situation which is not helped by a number of niggling injuries suffered by the German. The Arsenal boss also laid the same criticism at the door of midfielder Lucas Torreira, who has played just 76 minutes of football since the turn of the year. “He is the same (as Ozil),” Emery replied when asked why Torreira has been relegated to a bit-part player in recent weeks.

While Ozil could return for the Gunners against Chelsea on Saturday evening after Emery opted to leave him out of the squad for the 1-0 loss against West Ham United last weekend, with the German’s future at the club called into doubt. “Sometimes he is with a good performance, sometimes he is with worse performances. And sometimes he can play and sometimes somebody else can play. I think this is normal.”

Emery’s comments could mean Arsenal would line up with French youngster Mateo Guendouzi playing alongside Granit Xhaka in midfield as the Gunners look to close the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea to three points. Should Emery freeze Torreira from the Arsenal first team? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.