Apart from the Arsenal and England international star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the giant German defender Per Mertesacker, Arsene Wenger has a full squad of players to choose from as he prepares Arsenal for the Premier League away game at Man City.
With Man United’s win over Norwich ensuring that Arsenal still need points from our final two games to secure a Champions League place for next season, the manager must get his team selection and tactics right and with more options than usual he has a tough job on his hands, but one of those choices for me has to be Santi Cazorla in the box to box role.
The little Spaniard may have been out with injury for a long time and he might not be able to finish the game but I think he must at least be given a chance to start it. As reported by The Mirror the midfield maestro has declared himself fit to play after coming through an hour or so with the under 21 side on Tuesday. Not only that though, Cazorla expressed his burning desire to feature against Man City and help Arsenal finish the season with a bang.
He said, “I’m very happy to be back.
“It is a great feeling after five months. I need to keep up the hard work with my team-mates in the first team and I want to play the last two games.
“I would like to help the first team at the weekend against Manchester City. [Arsène Wenger] has the decision, but I will try to play at the weekend.
“We need to win the last two games as we want to finish in the top four.
“We need to fight until the end to try to get second place. If we win the last two games, we can do that. I want to help my team-mates.”
The desire to help does not automatically mean that a player should start though, and you would expect every Gunner to feel the same, but there are very good reasons for Wenger to grant Santi his wish. One is that he is the best we have in that role, especially on the creative side of things. The options are Ramsey, Wilshere and Elneny but the first two have not done enough to suggest they should start ahead of their Spanish team mate and I reckon the latter could just as easily play in the deeper lying position, although the more defensive Coquelin might be the better option.
Another reason and perhaps the biggest is that it was Cazorla who was the best player on the pitch in our famous victory away to Man City last season. He absolutely ruled the centre of the pitch and he also scored one and set up the other of our two goals. If that is not enough to earn him another start there, what is?