Arsenal defender Sokratis has praised head coach Unai Emery for his tactical flexibility after lining up with a back three at Qarabag for the first time this season.

Throughout his managerial career, Emery has almost exclusively played with a back four, but he decided to experiment with a different system for the first half of Arsenal's Europa League match on Thursday. At half-time, Emery reverted to a back four to give Nacho Monreal a rest and bring on an extra midfielder for the second half.

It meant Sokratis - who scored Arsenal's opener - was stationed in the middle of the back three for the first half, before forming a more conventional partnership with Rob Holding in the second.

Speaking after the 3-0 win against Qarabag that made it eight Arsenal victories in a row, Sokratis said: "In the first half we tried another system for us and it is very good we try new things.

"It's very good, because sometimes in matches like this you need to find a new tactic to win or play better.

"I played in Borussia [Dortmund] with three and four at the back. It is good that the manager works on a lot of situations and we learned a lot about what we have to do in games."