Has Santi Cazorla upset some of his Arsenal teammates?

Cazorla in his own words. By Galen

We had a great end to the season with our FA victory. But while 95% of our players are going on about us winning the title, Sanchez and Cazorla seem to be the only players who are not boasting about like kids. Sanchez called the season ‘a disapointment’ while Cazorla was asked at the unveiling of the new Kit if Arsenal can win the title? He replied: “If we buy a couple of players who can win the title”. Cazorla may have offended a few of his teammates with the latest interview, but you can tell he wants to win. In fact I am so glad he said this things.

Cazorla said when asked about Giroud and Welbeck: ‘Yes of course [Arsenal should sign a striker] because Danny had an injury,’ said Cazorla.

‘We had only Giroud up front. It’s better if we sign a new striker for the team and for the club.

‘We want to be more regular. Last season we lost so many points against small teams at home – Hull City for example – and if we want to win the league we can’t lose those points.’

Cazorla clearly thinks Arsenal need more options and when the interviewer asked him what he thinks about Theo Walcott he said clearly that the England international is not a true striker. “It’s a tough decision and it’s down to Mr Wenger to make these decisions. My only hope is that whoever is chosen will be somebody who can pump up the level of the team. When it comes to a position or who in particular we might need somebody in Theo Walcott’s area. He’s not necessarily a true, true striker so we might need somebody in his area,”

Cazorla clearly believes we need more than Giroud or Theo to be our striking options. He may have upset some of his teammates but only the truth can set you free….

Cazorla was then asked about Cavani or Higuain Joining Arsenal? He said: “The truth is that speaking about Cavani and Higuain is speaking about goals.”They are two players who have a spectacular career. I do not know whether the rumours about them joining Arsenal are true but I know both of them from watching them playing and with Pipa [Higuain] I have a good relationship. I wish them all the best if they come to Arsenal.”

If our best midfielder thinks we need a world class striker why don’t our fans see that? Why do people continue debate and mention the likes of Theo of Giroud or Welbeck? They are good squad players and good rotation options. Every squad needs these type of players. But every squad also needs a top-drawer type of striker. A guy with the fear factor. Just look at Costa’s impact on Chelsea and Aguero on City. Cazorla is speaking the truth….

Galen

Tags Cavani Giroud Higuain

33 Comments

  1. I think Santi was just being honest and truthful, keeping the best interest of the club in mind! Coyg!

  2. Cazorla is right in his assessment,if Giroud is our 1st choice striker next season we can just forget about a title challenge,we need a striker who will score 20+ League Goals because no team ever wins the league without a striker who reaches 20 goals

    1. I know, got to laugh at the idea any Arsenal player would be cheesed off by what Santi said, it’s all bang on the money.

      We’re light in the ST department as Giroud is basically the only player capable of playing there and offering a goal threat (looking at you Welbz), the others who can technically play there just haven’t got the all-round game needed for being ST (alexis/theo fit the bill here).

      That’s why Theo being our ‘new ST’ worries me so much, he just doesn’t compare to the type of ST we can realistically bring in this window. He’s a fine wide-forward, but he’s kidding himself on if he thinks he’s got the goods to be a central ST. He wouldn’t get near central ST at any other top European club, so why we need to be sympathetic and pander to his desires mystifies me.

      He’s a quality option, cracking impact player, but he’s just not in the same league as the premier ST’s operating around the world – same can be said of Giroud albeit with different strengths. You just get the feeling any other manager with more ruthlessness would flat dismiss this “Theo is a ST” garb, they’d buy a proper ST and tell Theo he can fill in throughout but he’s mainly a RW.

  3. If u watch Henry highlight at Arsenal u will know that Arsenal has no chance of winning the title with Oliver Giroud

    1. If u watch carefully our Henry years u will see a lot of victories of 1-0.
      Defense was key.

  4. I think we the fans do see that. I know a number of us have suggested reasons why we possibly won’t obtain such a striker, but that’s as a result of watching AW for years and getting to know his mentality 😀 A natural striker with pace, guile, excellent movement and who gets a shot away nice and early is an alternative to pretty much everyone we have at the moment and I for one, would welcome such a signing and consider it a big step forward in terms of options.

    But I think as good as we’ve been in some matches, there is work to do besides that. Work in our gameplay and tactically, and also a proper look into our situation with injuries. I will go so far as to say that AW himself needs to do more tactically and in terms of his preparation on a match-to-match basis. We’ve seen what happens when he does — we go and stuff the champions on their own ground and put a significant dent in their title bid.

    I think we’re in danger of becoming polarised in discussions instead of looking at each solution as a part-solution to a greater problem. As I’ve said in previous comments, Liverpool scored over 100 goals the season before last with a 31 PL goal striker and a 21 PL goal striker, and failed to win the title due to poor defending and slipping up (pardon the pun) when it really mattered. Cazorla himself addressed defending when he spoke about our title credentials.

    I think we Arsenal fans often get a little bogged down in the attacking side of our game and forget to look at some of our defensive frailties at times, such as letting strikers get away from our centre halves and plant simple headers into the back of our net.

    This really isn’t a suggestion that we don’t need a new striker. I’d love an explosive 18 yard box player with 25 goals up his sleeve. It’s a suggestion that with the strengthening our rivals are going to be doing, that we have to look at ourselves both in terms of personnel and tactical consistency.

    1. I agree with your premise, however what I’d add is that I don;t think people are equating a new ST being needed purely for more goals. We scored over 100 this term after all.

      I think it’s the embodiment of what an Arsenal ST should give to the team that polarizes views. For me I want a top class ST because as good as Giroud is he requires the supporting cast to to create literally all his goals. We’re used to having a focal point at the top of the pitch that can provide match-winning moments without help, and Giroud isn’t that guy (not a criticism, he’s a good player).

      People seem split on someone like Higuain, but the reason he’s a level above Giroud is because he can produce things from nothing. I still remember his goal he scored against us with Napoli when he had his back to goal 25 yards out, he rolled Kos and drilled the ball bottom corner with no teammate within 15yards of him. That’s the something extra you get in half a dozen games throughout the season that can earn you an extra 10 points to make you champions. It’s that ability I want to see from the best ST at the club, Henry did it, Bergkamp did it, RvP did it, Eduardo did it, even Ade managed it. We miss that element.

      1. Very eloquently put! I apologize for previous posts as your criticisms of Giroud weren’t expressed as clearly as you just did. Polarizing indeed.
        But things to bare in mind..
        A.) He does have that service more often than not at Arsenal.
        B.) When there is questionable delivery and 50/50 chances applying a strong body to an opposing player taking them out of play or the ability to reach balls a foot higher in the air is just as effective as a tight turn or burning your man. It’s just not as pretty. Giroud converted a number of goals this season with an exceptionally high difficulty level that a striker with a less physical frame or leap would not have. It goes both ways.
        C.) Our supporting forwards and midfielder’s are very, very capable goalscorers. It’s extremely hard to gauge or put percentages on, and Higuain is obviously talented at bringing others into play.. But if you look back at the goals we’ve scored this season Giroud is either directly or indirectly involved in an astounding number of them. His movement, decoy runs, lay-offs and ability to bring others into play is first-class and when you assess a team and attack as balanced as ours this has to be a consideration. Having a striker who will squeeze you an extra 10-20 goals between the likes of Sanchez, Theo, Ramsey and Cazorla is just as valuable as having a striker who will score them himself from a team perspective.

        I’m not for one second suggesting the thought of Higuain and Giroud competing for the top spot doesn’t increase our title credentials substantially. I just truly believe that when assessing the likelihood of our overall attack being as effective as possible Higuain spearheading the attack would take away some of the team strengths Giroud brings.

    2. Great comment!!
      Now… Start of the season we let go of Sagna and Vermaelan and brought in the French international FB Debuchy who actually kept Sagna out of the national side and Chambers as a promising youngster and a utility. Bellerin had just about as good a breakout season as someone can have and Chambers performed admirably being used in multiple positions in his first season at the club.. But you can’t expect to build a title winning defence with such young, inexperienced players and Monreal playing as CB when in recent interviews he admitted he’d NEVER played there before…. Arsenal… Playing a player who’d never played CB…. At CB…. WTF!!!
      Bellerin has obviously emerged as a fan favourite, and I may get thumbed down for this.. But the attacking side of his game is good enough to be our first choice, but the defensive side is not. He had some great defensive performances, but a lot of the time our right side was our glaring weakness. Debuchy is an experienced, balanced full-back and his defensive game is leagues above of Bellerin’s.. (Not slating Bellerin!! He’s 19! it’ll improve!)
      This coming season the added pieces of Debuchy, Gabriel, Coquelin and potentially Cech will hopefully be a deciding factor in getting the season started confidently, and defensively prudent. Mert and Kos fully fit, no world-cup hangover or makeshift defences, and proper cover with multiple players able to cover in their preferred positions.

    3. @rationalist
      Great post. I agree. There need to be that balance. In all fairness to the manager and the team I think they have improved tactically and defensively.

  5. Dear Fans,

    Don’t worry we are buying players. After seeing performance of players from South America Boss is planning to buy few of my friends. He is just waiting for Copa America to finish

    Thanks
    Alexis

    1. Hello Alexis I am.your big fan. I wish Chile will win Copa America.
      Btw you have improved your english lot.

  6. @mall-gooner Thanks for wishes.
    Yes I am working hard on my english. I am using google translator to translate.

    1. Hey me too working hard on learning english. I am also using translator. You didn’t recognize me? I am your team mate Gabriel Paulista.

      1. @Gabriel good to see you here. Hey why did Neymar act like kid man? He is my good friend but he is stupid too.

  7. To be fair we got a
    25 goal scorer
    last season, Sanchez.
    Walcott 20 Sanchez 20 Giroud 20
    Wellbeck 10 Ramsey 10 Ozil 7 Cazorla 7
    Camberlain 7 Akpom 5 = 104 goals
    Enough to win the EPL FA cup and make the ECL quarters.
    If we want to buy another big name striker some one has to make way.
    Adding another striker to Giroud Wellbeck Walcott Sanchez
    Sanogo Ramsey Chamberlain Akpom Cazorla just seems over the top.

    1. Yep… Buying a striker would reeeeeeeaally effect Ramsey and Cazorla!! With their primary striking positions being threatened they’d probably hand in a transfer request immediately…

      1. Hahaha !!!

        @josh37.
        You are a real king of sarcasm. You made @davidnz looked dwarf in his sacarsm !
        Lol

    2. Of course somebody has to make way, at less by loan out.
      Compare to ManShit strikers deepness, we’ll get shock. They’ve Aguero, Dzeko, Jovetic, and Negredo. I’m not suggesting such over helm quality (which proved to be wasted for them) and over budget policy, just one “world class” striker (world class here refer to Alexis Sanchez and all of his stuff).

    1. Yeah I can see why Alexis could complain coming from Barca (though he really should’ve lowered his expectations joining us), but Santi from Malaga who got his first club trophy(s) with us? No no no.

      But there’s definitely nothing wrong with having more variety up front.

      1. The fact that Santi came from Malaga dosn’t mean he has no intention of winning or to say what a he feels. Many players are scared of competition thats why they think our squad is good enough to win. Santi wants more and so do most fans.

  8. Santi said the truth. He didn’t say we need world class he didn’t say Giroud or wllbeck are bad like a lot of people think.
    He said Danny was injured he said alone with Giro ud is tough.
    And it’s true.
    But he never said they were squad players average at best.
    If we buy another striker of course we will have more goals and we can use two when one is injured instead , f having just one option if one is injured.

  9. An observation of a key player from inside the team won’t go wrong. To remember from the past story behind, even make it spot on. Giroud was bought as back up for RVP, whom later on was forced himself out due to “a boy inside of me”. Don’t get me wrong, by his goals account and his cohesion Giroud is developing much better now, but he seems a little bit under the line to equal Cavani (we’re not going to sign him anyway), Costa, or Aguero. Giroud can prove his progression further while we aren’t going to endanger our title shot next season by waiting for it. I prefer any name from Martinez, Higuain or even Lacazette to add on.
    As for Theo, I doubt of his injuries record. His valuable contributions to the team will depend on his injury free days. Our new physio therapist should take big impact on him and any injury prone (like Jack and Rambo).
    Despirately for me, that the reporter wasn’t ask about the needs of back up DM, and most of all about Santi’s deep lying playmaker back up. He’s the only DLP which quality require to our football at the team. What names he prefer to work with?

  10. I am so sick of writing to this type of argument. Please gunners give it a rest. Everyone knows where I stand. No need beating a dead horse.

    1. I know where you stand…you stand down!

      Because Carzola is correct just like Monreal who made the point last week about getting a 20 plus goals striker.
      I think the players finally know this. You too, maybe its time for you to finally know it rather than dwelling on a fantasy fifa 15 where giroud is scoring 30 goals and walcott is scoring 20 goals and jack welsher is scoring 10 in the league. Give it a rest son.
      We need a great centre forward period. Giroud will not win us the EPL.

      1. Really I know how the game is played and OG is a great asset. I will continue on with backing OG. Stand down? Wow you had me pegged wrong.

  11. Cazorla is just being honest

    Giroud is really good and on par with Remy
    We NEED a true striker on par with Costa

    Walcott should focus on improving his current position.

    I think if we got someone like Martinez then our attack could be even better than Chelski. We would also have Giroud as a supersub like Chelski has Remy.

    Alexis/Walcott or Oxlade/Ozil/Martinez > Hazard/Cuadrado or Willian/fabregas/Costa

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