To paraphrase the famous American author and wit Mark Twain, the reports of the death of the playing career of Santi Cazorla have been greatly exaggerated, or at least I hope they have because it would represent a huge blow to Arsenal as well as the player if they prove to be correct.
It was being reported this morning that the Spaniard had suffered another complication of the achilles injury that kept him out of the Arsenal team for most of last season, and that this complication could mean that the little magician never plays for the Gunners again.
However, an Evening Standard report has revealed that an official from our club has denied this and declared that they have no knowledge of such a setback to the Spaniard’s recovery. Good news then Gooners? Well sort of but only up to a point.
At the same time the club admitted to the paper that they have no clear data set for when Cazorla might be able to play again so there is clearly some issue with this problem. My question to you is whether Arsene Wenger can afford to wait a while?
Cazorla has a big impact on the Arsenal team and he would also be very difficult to replace, but we do have players like Xhaka, Ramsey, Elneny, Coquelin, the Ox and even Jack Wilshere who might thrice given a run in that position. The other option i8s to use the transfer market but finding someone who could do Cazorla’s job is not going to be easy.
How would you handle the situation?
Bob.
I really like Santi but the injury won’t let Him be.
I will keep Him but have to use other midfielders properly. I don’t think we have someone that can execute the play like Santi in our midfield but other midfielders have their own side of the game so we can play to their strength (Xhaka – Ramsey partnership) looks good towards the end of last season.
We can buy another midfielder like Seri or Lemar for an example or we play to our current midfielders strength and agility.
Quick recovery Santi, We love You!
I think Mahrez is a good replacement, Lemar too but he is over price with Monaco looking for 80 Million for the player, but it will be great if we can get Fabregas back…. that was a real play maker for us, a General in the Midfield, he can see how a goal can come from nothing, just like our little Spanish magician Santi Carzola
Why do you think wingers would be a great replacement for a deep lying central midfield playmaker?
Probably bcos Santi was a winger and converted well to a deep lying playmaker??
The fact that Santi was deployed to wing by Malaga and us doesn’t really mean his skill set was mean’t for that. I noticed from his first game for us, a friendly against Fc Colon, where he was played at the middle that he was perfect for central mid field. He was only played as winger to add flare to the game while making room for another attacking mid fielder. Something like Iniesta playing from the wing in Barca, Ramsey’s once upon a time at the wing, etc.
Mahrez as a replacement for Cazorla? Have you ever watched Mahrez play before even?
His attacking play is excellent as well as defensively, he is a diverse player, and can play anywhere
Utter nonsense – Mahrez doesn’t defend
Neither did cazorla
In the current system his place is where Xhaka plays as the 3rd cd replaces the DM. I think you need to be realistic about Mahrez as firstly he can’t do that position and even if he could it’s a waste of his talent.
I hope your not saying Mahrez is good defensively Chris Gunner. If you are saying that it’s like Twig said you have never watched him play football.
For me there are quite a few options for Santi’s role
Cesc Fabregas I know I said it can’t believe I did
Jean. Michael. Seri would be awesome.
If we get Lemar we need him further up the field especially if Alexis leaves.
Leon Goretzka would be great
Rajda Nainggolan would be perfect
So there are plenty off options that’s with out taking into account the players we already have
C.O.Y.G
He occasionally plays as a No. 10 (Nationally)… what im saying is that he is a talented player and i see him not only as a winger but a player that can create many goals or score, Similar to what Rambo does for us… Just my thoughts guys
It’s been long since Cazorla played as a No. 10 for Arsenal. Maybe you want Mahrez to be a replacement for a certain Mesut Ozil?
with cazorla injured for a longer period would this mean Ox gets more game time?
Surely this could convince him to stay…Ox is no where as skilled as santi but he wants to play Center-Mid.
I agree, i think Ox can also do well in a more central role especially with his pace, but i like him playing RWB, he did exceptionally well towards the end of the season
Ox performed well as right wing-back. Impressive actually
But he’s no Carzola replacement.
Truth is no one is. Wenger has tried for last 2 seasons, but nobody else gets close.
Only conclusion is to find another solution / team dynamic. Rather than pretending to find exact like-for-like replacement
Spot on and Wenger did exactly that with xhaka and ramsey combining superbly in the last 10 or so matches to win 8 of our last 9 league games and the fa cup. Utilising coquelin in there when we needed a slightly more defensive angle and elneny when the passing game needed to be better. Fact is of the 4 coquelin is the better defensively and elneny is the better passer of the 4. However xhaka gave us a better long ball game and ramsey offers the better runs from deep combined with the best finishing of the 4. Wilshire if used will again offer something different, I would say more similar to the ox as they both prefer to run with the ball, taking people on. All 6 mentioned are good players, however none of them are world class performers, you cannot see any of them being star performers in the world cup for example whilst playing in the middle of the park. In fact with the exception of the ox, the other 5 might not even make it to Russia.
Ramsey was one of the stars for Wales in the Euros! On that performance I’d say arguably is world-class
He blossoms in a weaker team where he has greater flexibility, and all the play goes through him
We can’t afford to do that at Arsenal. So doesn’t show all his skills
Harshly treated by many fans in my opinion.
Won us the last 2 FA cups – for god sake!
Pjanic from Juve would be a great replacement. Goreztka from Shalke is another good shout. Or even Seri from Nice. It’s best to get a CM that is good in both attack and defense with skills, technique, composure and enough pace. Complete CM’s are the best compared to a straight out destroyer.
It pains me to say this but we might not see Santi take the field for us again.
… Goretzka from Schalke; his age, experience, price, everything suits us perfectly.!!, though i heard Bayern M. already has an agreement…. don’t know if it’s true.
Simple question and a simple answer, we can not wait on Santi and have to plan for life without him.
When fit he was possibly even more important to us than Sanchez but sadly at his age and facing another season of injury we can not afford to rely on him.
Such a shame, such a nice guy, and gifted player.
offload him
we need a physical presence on pitch not a little play maker as CM. he is a liability in defense
We cannot still wait for santi. If he returns before december, thats a plus for us..meanwhile i am not excited by all our transfer activities so far until ALEXIS Signs a new contract. Keeping ALEXIS would make us truly invisible. Lacazzette mbappe and lamar are not enough to replace our king ALEXIS
Well if we become invisible – that would be amazing!
😉
No we can’t, Santi is to injury prone, time to go.
I remember Carzola taking a corner. Then a team mate told him to switch legs so became an in-swinger
Not many other players can switch legs for a dead-ball kick like that.
Never seen anyone else do it actually.
Class act!
As you say, a class act and I think we paid something like £12m, an absolute bargain.