Arsenal are in dire need of a bit of good fortune, or even a bit of a break from the bad luck would do. As usual, Arsene Wenger is having to cope with an Arsenal squad riddled with injured players and now, before the latest round of international games have even started, we have lost the services of the club record signing Mesut Ozil.
Now whatever you think of the Germany international, it is clear that Ozil is a key part of Wenger’s plans. His technical skill and passing ability are essential to the Arsenal way of playing, but we are going to have to without him for about three months. And those weeks are hugely important ones, with midweek Champions League fixtures along with the usual Premier League fixtures.
So the Gunners are already up against it and losing any more key players would be a disaster. That is why I am hoping for a big favour from the Spain national team and their manager Vicente Del Bosque tonight and on Sunday, because Santi Cazorla is the natural and best replacement for Ozil in the Arsenal side. Del Bosque will hopefully use our midfielder very sparingly, if at all.
They have away games with Slovakia and Luxembourg, both of whom will feel that an aggressive approach might be the only way to get anything from the games. Spain have plenty of options as well, with Silva, Mata, Isco, Fabregas, Xavi and Iniesta.
So I am hoping that the Arsenal man will not be risked, while a knock to Diego Costa or another of our rivals’ players would not go amiss either. Knowing our luck, however, it will work the opposite way round. Could we cope with an injury to Cazorla?