Unai Emery Reveals Bizarre Reason for Dani Ceballos' Substitution During Latest Arsenal Collapse
Arsenal manager Unai Emery has revealed that he opted to substitute Dani Ceballos during Sunday's 2-2 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road because it was hot.
The Gunners were in a commanding position at half time in the contest, holding a two goal advantage thanks to a brace from Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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That lead had been halved in the early stages of the second half by Tom Cleverley, before Ceballos was surprisingly replaced by Joe Willock on the hour mark.
The visitors went on to struggle for the rest of the game, fortuitously earning a point after a dismal second half display. However, Emery defended his decision to take off Ceballos, revealing that the weather caused him to make the substitution.
"Today was very hot. We needed fresh players. I was thinking how we can improve with fresh players", Emery said in his post-match interview, as quoted by the Express.
Having watched his side wilt after the break, with individual errors from centre back pairing Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz gifting Watford two goals, Emery could not hide his frustration.
The Spaniard continued by admitting that his players had been unable to cope with Watford's relentless pressing game, which eventually earned a deserved point.
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"We couldn't break their pressing in the second half. They are physical, a very strong team. They pushed for our mistakes, they were playing for our mistakes," Emery added.
"When you are trying to break their lines you can have chances. They won the second half and my summary is it is not a good point. We need to continue working. When we tried to play the long ball we lost the ball as well."
