Mesut Ozil or Aaron Ramsey: Who Should Play as Arsenal's No.10 Under Unai Emery? 

After Unai Emery's trial by fire in the Premier League with two tough fixtures against Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal have turned things around with back-to-back wins against West Ham and Cardiff City.

As things stand going into the international break, the Gunners sit in ninth place with six points. It's not the ideal start under a new regime but fans are happy to see some sort of progress with respect to the team's tactics and organisation on the pitch.

Arsenal are far from being the finished product, especially in defence. Criticism has been directed at the coach for asking a 36-year-old Petr Cech to learn new tricks and pass out from the back while the back-line has already leaked 8 goals and is yet to keep a clean sheet.

But at the other end, the attacking players are slowly finding the right wavelength to make things work and it's only a matter of time before the fluid attacking moves become a constant rather than mere flashes in the pan.

However, the one headache Emery has to resolve is his choice for the no.10 role. For a coach who prefers a 4-2-3-1 formation, he has alternated between Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil in that position and the team has achieved mixed results.

What does Emery expect from his no.10?

Under Emery, Arsenal's players have covered the most distance in the Premier League

The first thing Emery wants his no.10 to do is to initiate the press. While the centre-forward is the first line of defence, he cannot do it on his own - although Alexandre Lacazette impressed with his work rate and harrying defenders in his first start of the season.

But it is the central attacking midfielder's press that causes problems to the opponents. Centre-forwards can easily be bypassed and it is the no.10's role to reduce passing options to increase their chances of winning the ball back.

That is one of the reasons why Ozil has been deployed on the right rather than in the centre. Ramsey is a far better option because he has the lungs to press for the entire game and is suited to Emery's style of putting pressure to win the ball back in the opponent's half.

Ozil is not a workhorse and cannot compete physically with his opponents to win the ball back as well as his Welsh teammate. His skills are far more useful on the ball. And that brings us to Emery's other concern.

In possession, Ozil is still Arsenal's best no.10

When Arsenal have the ball, Ozil is far better than Ramsey in that role. The German midfielder has an eye for numerous aspects of the game that are far superior to Ramsey's.

Firstly, nobody exploits space as well as Ozil does. He drifts into the middle of the pitch, between lines, and that allows him to get the better of teams that employ man-marking schemes to nullify his effect on the game. Secondly, Ozil's chance creation is second to none in the squad.

Mesut Ozil improved Arsenal's play when he moved to the centre

On the other hand, Ramsey is a player whose vertical movements are more crucial to the team. He is a better goalscorer and a valuable player to have in the final third. He is more adept at receiving the final pass to take a shot rather than making the final pass.

In the three games that he has played this season, Ozil has looked out of sorts when played on the right. It has had a cascading effect with Hector Bellerin also struggling to make an impact. The Spanish right-back has flourished when Henrikh Mkhitaryan plays on the right but looks isolated when Ozil takes his place.

The Cardiff City game was a perfect example of Ozil's strengths and weaknesses. In the first half, he played on the right and seemed to get in his teammates' way when he tried to drift inside. As a result, both he and Ramsey kept getting into the same zones.

But in the second half, things took a different turn when Ozil started moving to the centre and then to the left - his most preferred positions (it was similar to the role he played for Germany when they were at their peak).

His presence in the centre of the park immediately helped Arsenal unlock Cardiff's defence as he found space and immediately found Lacazette, whose flick was curled in by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Ozil in the middle is key to unleashing Lacazette and Aubameyang

With two strikers working in tandem, Ozil is the ideal player to have in the centre rather than out wide where his impact is limited because his movements and passing are a bit more predictable.

The solution: Rotation and adaptation

One of the main criticisms aimed at Arsene Wenger was his failure to get his teams to adapt to the opposition. Players had their roles and were encouraged to figure things out as the game wore on - a folly in the modern game where rival coaches give players specific instructions on how to approach games and even certain moments.

Emery is of a different breed. He is willing to change things around even mid-game to find the right formula. It is why Ozil was so much better in the second half because Emery had instructed his team to give the German space when he drifted towards the centre or the left.

"I like the possibility to have the player play different positions on the pitch. It depends [on] each match and it is the same for other players too. For that, Mesut has played with me on the right wing and also as no.10 and we are going to continue to do that.”

"His quality is for playing between the lines. But I spoke with him for his best position on the pitch and I know he can play right and as a ten. And he wants that I can use him for two positions." - Unai Emery before the Cardiff game

Arsenal look much more potent with Lacazette and Aubameyang on the pitch together. They clearly enjoy each other's company and the Gunners look far more fluid as a result. And since Mkhitaryan is a better choice out on the right, only one of Ramsey or Ozil can start in the middle unless Ramsey is pushed further back.

Will Aaron Ramsey sign a contract extension at Arsenal?

But with Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi, and Granit Xhaka also in the mix, it is quite the selection headache. And playing time may be a factor in Ramsey's contract extension too with his current deal expiring at the end of this season.

Since Emery has abandoned the idea of playing a 4-3-3 (like Pep Guardiola did at Manchester City to use two no.10s in Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva as no.8s in tandem), there will be sacrifices made this season with Ramsey, Ozil, and Mkhitaryan being rotated in what could be a gruelling season with Europa League fixtures packing the schedule.

We could even see a 4-2-2-2 formation that allows Emery to slot in both Ozil and Ramsey when two strikers start together. But he will adopt a 'horses for courses' strategy and use Ramsey as a no.10 against sides that keep the ball better while Ozil will move to the middle when he knows that the Gunners can dominate possession.