Santi Cazorla has urged his teammates to ensure they travel to Barcelona in three weeks time with a chance of qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals.
Having suffered a knee ligament injury in November, he Spanish midfielder is not far away from a comeback and is clearly hoping he can play a part when the two sides meet again on March 16th.
Speaking to Onda Cero radio ahead of tonight’s clash at the Emirates, he acknowledged that the visitors are most people’s tip to win, but said, “I want the team to go to Barcelona [for the return leg] with a chance.
“It’s a pain that I can’t play in a game like this, but I’ll continue working hard to come back as soon as possible.
“Hopefully we can go further in the Champions League than in previous years although Barcelona are the favourites.
“Barcelona are a team that come close to perfection, but we’ll try to cause them as many problem as possible.”
He also tipped his teammate, Hector Bellerin, to make his mark in the Spanish national side sooner rather than later.
“Hector is going to be the player of the future for both Spain, and Arsenal,” he said. And no doubt when he tears them apart tonight, Barcelona will start talking about his DNA at every possible moment.
Speaking of which, Bellerin is happy to use what he learned at La Masia, the Barcelona lab, to help his current team this evening.
“It’s nice that you come to Arsenal from that club and you’re doing the same stuff that you’ve learned already,” he said. “You share all the knowledge that your team-mates have and that’s very important. It definitely made it easier for me to adapt.
“I’m wearing another shirt now and I’m very proud of it. I’m proud to wear the Arsenal badge. When the news came that we had them in the draw, everyone was really, really happy.
“I’ve got all of my family and friends over there so it will be a great night.”
Love Bellerin, our cockney catalan.
And I love hector’s positive attitude, COYG, we CAN do it…..
Imagine if bellerin and sanchez score…will be funny.very funny.
And Ozil to make it 3-0 to add double salt
And Vermaelen to come on at 70″ and score an own goal and high-five Wenger.
Possibly the only cockney Catalan in the entire world.
Cockalan… Coquelin?
Ohhhh I miss Santi, come back soon!
First, get your leg sorted Santi, then you can own the second leg.
My team for tonight.
Cech.
‘Ector. Per. Kos. Monreal.
Elneny, Coquelin.
Ozil.
Alexis, Ramsey.
Theo/Oli.
Solid in the middle, pace on the wings, but unsure whether to have Oli (holding it up) or Theo (exploiting the counter attack). Either way, I think Ramsey on the right is the right idea, and I really like the sound of Coquelny in the middle.
I don’t think you’re going to be that far off. Though the inclusion of Elneny, excellent idea that it is, might be a tad too adventurous for Wenger.
Ramsey on the right is never a good idea unless injuries give us no other choice. He lacks the pace to be effective enough there, it hampers his attacking ability, and it only works defensively when he doesn’t drift miles out of position into an area where he’s more comfortable (again, pace being the issue here, as he can’t recover in time). And all in all there are too many flaws to his game, but his qualities make up for them far more when he’s playing centrally (as long as his parter isn’t Flamini). Ramsey on the right is Wenger… Read more »
Ramsey mainly played on the right because Santi was fantastic in the middle. And plus when Theo was playing up front, it helped to give us a little more balance as a team.
For all the stick he deservedly gets i will start Chamberlain on the right and instruct him to dribble and intimidate barca on the right everytime he gets the ball and hope it’s his lucky day because when he is on fire he is unstoppable and has the potential to be better than neymar or sanchez. They may have the best front 3. But, we have to keep them on a psychological backfoot by showing that we too have a front 3 that is capable of hurting them when given space and time. I wanna see the Chambo who owned… Read more »
I miss Rambo on the right! I know he doesn’t like it but he gives us something different than Walcott/Ox/Campbell. I think Bellerin links up better with Rambo too.
COYG!!!
Probably will be Ramsey for Elneny, and Feo for Ramsey. I don’t think Arsene will start Elneny in a Champions League match against Barca when he hasn’t started him in a Premier League match.
Yeah CJ – I think you’re right. What I would say though is that Ramsey has been a bit of a liability positionally when he’s in the middle: he turns up all over the park. It’s OK going forward, but defending like that is a nightmare and has left us exposed against mid PL teams, never mind a team like Barcelona. Organisation is key.
I’d have Coq and Elneny there and basically tell both of them not to go beyond the halfway line!
You’re right about Rambo, but I think he’s improved a lot in recent matches on his positional and defensive awareness. If Wenger drills it in him to sit back and cover the back, then it might just work. Everyone will have to be switched on for every minute if we are to stand a chance against Barca.
But I’d say your lineup will be very close to what we see in a couple of hours.
Let’s hope we win it with quick goals on the counter!
It is wonderful to hear such assuring words from Santi. Arsenal is my team for live… we have a chance tonight. I hope there is an absolute belief in each an every individual in the team. If they all put up a maximum effort tonight, I wouldn’t care if the result didn’t go our way. Come on Arsenal!!!
what a player we have in our team,the most complete two footed player of our time.
We’ve missed Santi so much since his injury. His excellent play in midfield made him our most important player – just look at centre mid since then! Can’t come back soon enough.
Love that little magician. Can’t wait to have him back in the side.
Hoddles says if Arsenal play Barca ie attack at their own game,they will be in trouble.I am inclined to agree with him.With so many years of cl experience,Wenger is still a novice compared to the other top coaches.
That’s why he repeatedly lost to MU and Chelsea in the cl .
He doesn t believe in anti soccer.Irrespective of how Arsenal finish this season,I think its about time he makes way for another guy who could finally bring Arsenal to the next level in the cl.
I completely agree with you. Sometimes people miss the point with regards to Wenger making way for another coach. Some people thinks it is being anti Arsenal but that is absolutely rubbish. I have repeatedly said that Wenger has done well but time has come for him to make way for another challenge in Arsenal’s history. He does not have solution to beating some of these teams, like Wolfgang mentioned above. Do we just seat and watch or do something about it?
When I see what is going on with ManU and how long it took Tottenham to get a good coach that can grow with them, I think you should be careful what you wish for. I think people get tired of consistency and that is exactly what is going on when you say Wenger is naive. I remembered how everyone always get upset that we just always get to the top 16 in Champions League and nothing happens so maybe we shouldn’t even be there. But when we almost didn’t make it this year it was as if it was… Read more »
STFU. Thank You.
all these talk about who plays where and how are missing the point. our team is not at the same level with Barca. it is going to be a boring match for fans of arsenal because our players won’t see the ball much. The likes of Ramsey can’t even make the Barca bench, yet some folks think we can beat them. Barca really need to have a bad day. And we really need lots of luck to win. like it happened with Bayern at the Emirates. No matter what Wenger says, reality is, Barca is far superior to Arsenal at… Read more »
Are you suggesting we should just give them a walkover then?
I don’t think you’ll find many Arsenal fans arguing that we’re better than Barcelona but that shouldn’t mean that we can’t discuss the game and potential tactics for getting the best result possible, which, despite your defeatist attitude, includes a chance of winning tonight.
Or maybe I’m just missing the point?!
Is anyone better then barca? all other teams are milies behid them this season. But yeah we will gieve 100% i’m sure of it and every fan need to expect full comitmed from our team even tough it’s almost imposibble to knock them out in two legs.
Re Wenger years
Then how on earth did Di Matteo stifle Messi,unplayable according to
Wenger,and beat Barca in the cl ? The Spanish team were at that time
far superior to Chelsea.
It’s up to the coach to devise the tactics to win. Frankly Wenger is too predictable and yet refuses to change his style of hogging possession and endless passing.That’s why his record in the cl is poor. He may have 18 years cl qualification but we are in it to win and not make up the nos.
Wolfgang – I believe Man United are looking for some new supporters. Just saying……
Oh do bugger off. I seriously don’t understand how so many supporters still blindly follow Wenger like he’s Arsenal divinity and everything he says is doctrine. He’s been here far too long. Two FA Cup wins in the last two seasons are apparently enough to make half the support think he’s the best manager Arsenal could ever get at any time ever. In the last ten years we’ve had, at best, four title challenges, all of which crumbled embarrassingly. For me it will be an utter humiliation if we don’t win the league this year. Alan Smith, one of our… Read more »
see my response to Wolfgang, above.
Was my argument really so convincing that you can’t argue back, just respond by telling me to go support United? A statement that is totally besides the point?
Perhaps you should try explaining to me why you justify Arsebe staying for so long? Because the only reason I can think of is that nobody trusts the board to bring in an adequate replacement.
I guess Chelsea would have being walking away with the league if they have won all the games they are suppose to win.
Barcelona missed a ton of chances in that game.
Di Mateo stifling Messi and co was a freak result. it happens football as well as life. and that is what should happen for us to progress beyond this round.
Wenger has packed this team with a lot of mediocre players. it’s testament to his genius he has being able to keep the team competitive the years. Wenger is now a prisoner to his philosophy. it worked once. it won’t work again.
sorry for the typos. phone is acting up
We nearly overturned Bayern Munich, and we beat Barca one leg in previous years when we were considered to have no chance of doing either and had a weaker squad than we have now.
What is the point of insulting the team and the manager in the run up to this match?
Perhaps a defense mechanism to deal with potential* disappointment and set up the *potential* opportunity to say ‘i told you so’? How depressing.
‘Nearly beat them!’
‘We won the first leg!’
There are no trophies for glorious exits. Pride that we did so well against Europe’s finest, yes.
But seriously, last year we couldn’t even get past the might Monaco! Plus we’re finding it more difficult each year to get out of the group stage.
Spot on Mpls! I get the distinct impression that some Arsenal “supporters” actually want us to lose, just so they can say ‘I told you so’. I’m guessing that most of them have only started supporting in the last 10 years. What Wenger has done – and continues to do – is nothing short of revolutionary. And when the Sheiks at Man Shitty, the dodgy Russians at Chelski an the Glazers at Manure have disappeared with their money we’ll still have a club that competes at the highest level.
We could do with two coqs in our team lol imagine messi et al having to deal with that!!!
Hilarious! I checked out the interview… even in Spanish, he finishes all his sentence by “No?” when he is answering a question! Cannot wait to have him back!
Oh, Santi, why did you play on with that injury? In my humble opinion, we would be AT LEAST 10 points better off if you were playing and in top form.
And by the way, guys, we must all believe, otherwise what is the point of following our team?