Arsene Wenger believes Santi Cazorla is playing the best football of his career after a stunning couple of months that has seen him score five times from the centre of midfield.
The 30-year-old Spain international has been hailed in all quarters (Neil ‘7 out of 10’ Ashton aside) for his man of the match showing against Manchester City at the weekend and his manager believes his new position is bringing the best out of him.
“He is a very talented football player,” Wenger told his pre-Brighton press conference. “Since he has played centrally he has taken [his game to] another dimension, because on the flank he was a bit more exposed to things where he was not at his best.
“In the middle of the park, he gets you out of situations where you are under pressure. He is always technically perfect and in our recent games he has certainly been in the best form of his career.”
“Santi is happy to play, every day he is happy to be with the ball and to go out there. He is the perfect example for every young player to follow.”
It remains to be seen whether Santi is called upon for this weekend’s trip to the south coast – there’s a good chance Mesut Ozil will start his first game since October – but if he is given game time he says he’ll relish the opportunity.
Reflecting on last year’s Wembley triumph, the Spaniard said of England’s premiere knockout competition:
“It’s a big, big trophy for all the teams here, and in Spain the Copa del Rey is the same. I have very good memories [of last season’s final] and it was a very good moment for me and for the team. It was my first trophy with the club and I want to get another one this year.
“I think [the free-kick against Hull] was very important because we were losing 2-0 and I could help the team. At half-time it’s different when you get a goal back.”
“I don’t think [there is more pressure this year],” he continued. “We want to win this competition again and this is a very good opportunity for us. We need to play against Brighton away and we can repeat this year with another trophy for the fans and the club.”
In a separate interview on Arsenal.com Santi goes into further detail about the build-up to the epic free-kick that helped spur the Gunners’ comeback against Hull City. It’s a real insight into the detail his manager bestows on his players before kick-off:
“Of course I can still remember the free- kick. Before the match, the boss had told us that their goalkeeper always took a step towards the wall when facing free-kicks, so we’d have a good chance of scoring on the other side. So when I got the free-kick, I saw that side was open and figured I’d trust in the boss! Luckily, their goalkeeper did take a step to the side, so when he reacted he didn’t have time to save it.”
How good is that?
Fucking excellent.
He’s fat, he’s round, his feet don’t touch the ground….
Santi is a magician, can anyone else in the PL do the stuff he can with his size 6s at the speed he can?
Santi isn’t fat.. He’s healthy 😛
Big boned
Obviously people are too young to have heard that chant and the variations:
eg He’s fat he’s round, he’s worth a million pound…he scores at every ground…
Or too politically correct.
So .. he’s healthy, he’s wealthy, he…
The BFG loves his nickname despite the negative connotations, I am sure that Santi would appreciate the chant as well.
He’s big bones in a short sort of way. Imagine an athletic Tyrion Lannister but Spanish, good at football, signed by Arsenal, a bit taller and not in Game of Thrones.
He is. How long has he been with Arsenal? Arsene just realised he is excellent in the middle of the park?
Trust in the Boss!!! Time for more Arsenal fans to get back onboard!
Wenger Wenger Wenger
‘Wenger doesn’t analyse the opposition’
Fuck you everyone who ever said that.
So you’re saying fuck king henry then??
I remember him saying in his book that arsenal didn’t watch tapes of barca prior to the 06 final.
That doesn’t mean (even if it is true) that Wenger doesn’t analyse the opposition. His player may not have, maybe even for a special match such as the Champions League final, but Wenger certainly did.
Every pro club got their own analysts. I played in lower leagues myself and even they have some basic analysing going on that they use to prep the team. But in the big clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, City, Barca, Bayern and so on, nothing is left to chance, and every detail of the opposition is analysed into the smallest detail. Defenders need to know which foot to push the attacker on to, and which spaces the different attackers like to move into. Penalty takers will know which way the opposition goalkeeper usually goes. Or like in our final vs Hull… Read more »
Stop making excuses; those were henry words. I remember him also saying how worried he was that we didn’t do so.
Deep breaths buddy
In response to Loke, post below; do you seriously think that the fact that, The Arsenal have remained in the top four through thick and thin, not to mention the Invincibles and an unbeaten season was haphazard chance, ie; Wenger ‘got lucky’? Get a grip!
Wenger should rest Santi this weekend.
I have a severe mancrush on Mesut Ozil, but there’s just no way he’s taking Santi out of the team on this form.
I’m absolutely sure that they can play together.
The younger Ozil who used to take on players everywhere on the pitch, all the time + Cazorla in form = a match made in heaven.
But I would love to see Ozil back on the pitch, and what better opportunity than the next game v Brighton?
He had a perfect dance too after his assist for the second goal
Yeah that was just so good. Best dance celebration ever.
The attention to detail shown by Arsene Wenger is incredible. Who else would have seen that he takes a step towards the wall?
Wenger doesn’t do tactics they said. Sends his teams out with zero prep they said. If anything this shows how much he truly is a micro-manager.
Everyone? At the top level nothing is left to chance, especially before a cup final, and if a keeper allways step towards the wall on freekicks, it is pretty f ing easy for analysts to pick up on that. Just like United picked up on Neuer going low in one on one situations to provoke a chip then he jumps. But Welbeck still tried the chip in that bayern game despite Fergie telling him to shoot low if he came 1 on 1. 🙂 Bet he got an earfull for that. But then there are all the details the defenders… Read more »
I’m.sure all the arsenal supporting kids want a tiny Santo teddy now a days, not those little bears, but a cazorla instead.
Wow that was revealing – Wenger doesn’t just concentrate on his own teams strengths!
I never thought he did but all you hear is about his tactical naievity/ stubbornness.
he obviously studies his opponents very closely and clever players listen
santi is living my dream
He has always altered his tactics, but it’s normally very subtle – much like this. Sometimes it’s the speed of approach play (vs Swansea 2012 I think is a good example) or pressing higher.
Imagine if J*** M******* made a substitution and changed his formation to 4 – 4 – 2 in the last 10 mins, to then go and overturn a game and win away from home after being 1-0 down all game. The media will make you think some sort of genius. When Arsene Wenger does it against Anderlecht its “lucky escape” from a tactically clueless manager. Underated
Wenger out!
Even if we appreciate the humour, can’t thumb you up.
But just to prove I got it, I will like yours
I don’t think most people want Wenger out, injuries has really affect the team’s performance over the years when he had to manager with little finance and still remain relevant in both domestic and eufa competitions.But we have also seen games lost where we should have won due to tactics. On the balance Wenger has done well. With the current financial strenght we all want to see the club go back to winning ways.
We have capable wingers in Alexis, Theo, AOC, Welbeck and even Gnabri, and in the AM is Rosicky, Ramsey, AOC, Alexis and the unstoppable Cazorla at the momment, all in great form and also ready to work tirelessly for the team, as evident with the performance vs city, as talented and craetive as Carzorla is, he still led Arsenal in stats u’l expect a matic or a Viera to excel in, Alexis, TR7, Chamberlain will run through walls for this team, I’m not trying to criticize Ozil here but it takes more than just talent to excel in football this… Read more »
Who is Gnabry?
If that’s a joke given his disappearance cause of injuries, then well played.
If you seriously don’t know who he is, then that’s a shame.
I seriously can’t tell. :/
Ozil is a great player, but his work rate is below Santi’s. The team need to work for each other at all times. For any to start ahead the other or player together,it will depend on how wenger wants to play.I think with Santi’s performance in the middle so far,it may not be wise to put him on the bench.
we all know Cazorla has the ability as he proved in one of the seasons earlier
I hope he plays like this all the time
Blogs you have to change the arrows in the news feed for listing, you can barely see them and you can easily miss click them and it’s annoying, i think it was much better with the dots which when you click them or miss clicked them never goes straight to the post.
Adding to the site issues, the “home” button at the top to click through to “Arseblog home” page is either too transparent or just a visual gimmick and doesn’t have a link. I always get redirected to the button beneath it, which is stats or video depending on cursor location. This is on the PC by the way.
I was also talking about the issue with the listing and arrows from PC, the mobile app for android is great.
fuck all the wenger haters. love that excerpt…
Continuing on from what he said about Carzola being the perfect role model he cited the perfect two feet he can use and the fact in the modern game its imperative for a kid to use 2 feet . So to all you Gooner dads on here! Get your kid using two feet from a young age. Thanks 😀
CAZ-ORLA!
NOT
CAR-ZOLA!
Lay off, I made the same mistake a few times on this site 🙂
I was told that Car-zola sounds like a wonderful Russian car, haha
Blimey. Wenger’s attention to detail is absolutely ridiculous.
Ozil and Santi can play together. For me, the real problem is where Wilshere is going to fit in when he comes back. I know he’s our future captain and all, but I judt don’t see where he’s gonna fit
Really? Not unless he makes serious improvement in ball control and even more important in reading the game…
There’s always a loan place at West Ham
I always thought he was a great signing! Prefer him in the deeper role so his vision becomes more influential on the team. Really showed his tenacity defending against city.
That freekick would have been hit straight at the wall and still would have got in, Santi’s fuckin’ excellent!
I wonder what that India inscribed tatoo Santi always kiss when he scores mean
Santi has a love for India and especially the food. I regularly see him at our local Indian restaurant. He is so well known and popular the waiters serenade him there:
He’s fat, he’s round, his arse is on the ground…
His daughter is named ‘India’. Hence the tattoo.
Well, since this is actually the truth I can’t fathom why someone would vote it down. His son’s name on the right forearm, daughter India on the left.
Well, I think Santi is a fantastic footballer. It really was the right decision from Wenger’s point of view to ship away Podolski and Sanogo. It is unbelievable to say it, but at this very moment it could actually prove difficult for Özil to ‘get’ a starting position.
Play Santi in the middle of the park…….. Keep the guns blazing
Rather refreshing to hear a player explicitly state just how good a manager they have. Usually I would think shhh, stop giving his secrets away! However, when such information divulged is essentially a resounding steaming turd on the vociferous clubfooted wenger out brigade I say amen, preach away santi.
Absolutely, the ‘clubfooted’ and knuckle dragging, #wengerout brigade, absorb what Santi has said, or #wengerout’fans’, out…..
Plenty of voices pronouncing Santi’s career over not just recently at start of season.
Similar voices were on Walcott, Ramsey, Jack recently, Ozil, Ox.
Similar voices did not give either Bellerin or Coquelin a chance pronouncing them desperate moves or squad players at best.
Similar voices said Giroud was useless and now underate Flamini who has improved since Arteta was out.
Such refreshing article…especially the bit about the Hull keeper. Who would see that except a manager who is given to detail? Carzola or Ozil? I will say: the Team comes first. The manager has the responsibility of giving the team the best possible chance of winning the game. So he will pick his team based on that. Ozil and Carzola may find themselves on the bench once in a while if that will make for the team doing well. There are lots of games from next month so all should strive to be fit first of all. Talking about fitness,… Read more »
I remember at the time thinking it was odd that Santi went to the keeper’s side of the goal rather than over the wall. This explains everything, wonderful!
Great comments by Santi. I love those tiny bits of info which reveal the smallest details about managers analysing the opposition
Fantastic stuff from Santi. I love these insights into the top-level game.
And very sad news today about Diaby. Could have been one of the world’s best, but now I can’t see him playing again. And I even bought his jersey this year. Hopefully that cunt taxi-driver Dan Smith will have a painful yeast infection for the rest of his life.
………………………………..Giroud…………………………………………
Campbell…………..Ramsey………..Ozil……………………….Walcott
………………………………..Flamini……………………………………….
Gibbs………………..Per……………….Chambers………………Bellerin
…………………………………Szsc……………………………………………
Still a frightfully talented and strong squad to face BrightonHA
I don’t see Ozil, Walcott etc as a negative. It can only be a positive competition for spots with FA cup and CL necessitating rotation along with PL. Players fall in and out of form. We toast certain players now but that does not mean other players do not come back into good form.