Friday, March 29, 2024

Confirmed: Cazorla needs op, out for 3 months

Arsenal have confirmed that Santi Cazorla will undergo surgery on his right ankle.

A statement on the club’s official website reads: “The club’s medical team and specialists have decided that surgery is required to the plantaris tendon in the Spain international’s right foot.

“The problem has not progressed during a rehabilitation programme following the injury during the home match with Ludogorets on October 19.

“We expect Santi’s full recovery to take approximately three months.

“Everyone at the club will be working hard with Santi to make sure he’s back on the pitch as soon as possible.”

It’s a big blow for the Gunners who have seen their form drop without the little Spaniard in the centre of midfield.

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AP

Love him, but we need to start looking at life Sans Santi, we are way too reliant on him…also Jack really could’ve made a difference this year if he wasn’t so eager to warm Southgate’s illustrious bench, such a shame.

thw14

Exactly! Althoigh having him it would be ideal, looking at midfield options at the beginning of the season, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that a decent CM combo could easily be found even without Santi. After all some 50 million has been spent on the position just this year. Why can’t Arsene get some combination of all that talent to function?! He’s finally got the squad and he’s still struggling. Makes me feel stupid for defending his inherent managerial ability for the last four years. Even two FA cups don’t make up for all the chances missed. Were all… Read more »

thw14

*Although having him fit…

Heavenly Chapecoense

Wenger used to see Chamberlain there. Ox has plenty of dribbles. As for the brain and ability for passes, I don’t know.

George

Agreed. Just my feeling, but this seems to be the beginning of the end for Santi – age, type of injuries, etc.

Keep him around by all means, but contingency plans (Xhaka?) need to be pushed to the forefront now and going forward.

Not an easy player to replace.

yaya sanogo's wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube legs

Devastating news for us. We are way too reliant on him as someone said.. Xhaka needs to step up and I have total faith in him to do it. Is it possible to bring Jack back in January too?..

Gooooooooooooona

Recall wilshere in January??

Buy Thiago alcantara or verrati in the summer?

Or do nothing? Lol

Jokerekoj

The easiest solution is to Sack Venga obviously, but Alcantralalala also appeals.

Mike

Gutted at this news. Santi was out for 7 months of last season and he’s probably gonna be out the rest of the season knowing our luck.
A great little player. I think wenger should put faith in xhaka now.

Arsefull

This is very unfortunate news but given the delay in Santi’s recovery, it is in retrospect not that surprising. We spent 35 million on Xhaka and looking at the midfielder alternatives currently on the team, I do not see anyone else but Granit who can even remotely replicate what Santi does for Arsenal. The question is who is Xhaka going to partner with going forward? Ramsey is an option for some, but honestly based on both current form and his play over the last two years, he has been unconvincing in a central role. Elneny has many strengths but despite… Read more »

Celebdiur

Wilshire could do a job

stephane Renaut

Season over for him, great….

TamilTiger

FUCK
Get yer chequebook out Wenger

NOOOOOOOO!!!

luke_skywalker.gif

*Aaannnnd its gone, its all gone… *poof*

We have a 75% win rate with Santi in the side, and we have a 40% win rate without him in the side.

I like Xhaka, I think he’s shown flashes of real brilliance but I think we are asking far too much of him to have that sort of impact on the side in his first season in England.

So to round this up, I hate to be a naysayer – but hello 4th place, how are you ..old friend.

Hank Wankford

75??? Really?

IamaGoober

Yeah Gunnerblog retweeted a stat from Ed Aarons whos the deputy sport editor of the Guardian.

Its over.

spinner

Did you know that 86.32% of stats are made up?

Xxxrob

It’s 83.25% man, come on, do your research!

SuperFlam

Well fuck.

Santi's Smile

Not sure anyone — with Arsenal or anyone else — can quite replicate what Santi does. Two-footed, fantastic dribbler, great passer, decent tackler, tactically intelligent, plus the best smile and on-pitch attitude around. Get well soon Santi so you can lift the Premier League trophy!

Frank

If I had to choose someone it would be verratti

Jokerekoj

As for me, I would choose surratti

Chris

Fuckity fuck fuck fuckington

The Mert

Well, maybe we’ll see more of Xhaka now as the pivot in the midfield

Sounak

Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!

G-Man

OH FOR FUCK SAKE

LEFT08

Just yesterday AW told reporters he could be back in days and that it is just inflammation. Announcing Santi needs surgery just hours later is simply taking the piss. He could have just said “no comment”. It just makes the whole thing that little bit more annoying.

Savage

Everybody including Wenger made it clear they weren’t really sure about the situation. I don’t think Wenger gave any false hopes on the issue.

LEFT08

Yesterday: “Cazorla, I don’t know, honestly. It’s just inflammation […] It can go in two days, two weeks — I don’t know. He has no setback, the inflammation is just still here. At the moment, it’s stable.”

Today: Cathorla out for 3 months.

PFo

Do you really think he didn’t know Cazorla was going to need surgery? He implied it might clear up in in days. That was a lie, and a completely gratuitous one. It wouldn’t have changed Santi’s situation, but there was no need for that level of disingenuousness. Taking the piss indeed.

Bowiekamp

Why would he lie?
The surgery was confirmed today, hence the news. He was clear that nobody knew when he would be back.

PFo

Yeah, I’m sure Arsene doesn’t find stuff out before the press…

Of course it’s possible he only found out this morning, but my guess is he knew. As for why would he lie? I have no idea, but he clearly has precedence for this kind of thing. He very often doesn’t give straight answers about injuries.

Jokerekoj

Absolutely disgusting dishonesty.

Deserving of the sack really.

Kev S

Deja Vu. Exactly the same thing that’s happened as last year and it seems likely this season will end very much like last season’s. Aaron Ramsey will no doubt be played as the first choice central midfielder now but his despite his inability to form an effective partnership with any one of Xhaka, Coquelin and Elneny, Wenger will continue to persist with playing Ramsey. A lot of people will call me a negative Nancy but I am being as positive as I can possibly be. Santi getting injured last year derailed our title hopes and there were less than 5… Read more »

Sheffield Goon

You certainly won’t be the only one who feels like this. It seems whatever we do as a club, every season tends to pan out in the same pattern. Playing the way we are at the moment, there is no way we will finish above Chelsea, City and Liverpool (though we may well finish above one or two of them). I don’t know what the answer is, but it is very frustrating. I thought we’d do well this season. We started well, but we’ve fallen off the pace already and there’s no sign of things improving. Last night’s performance didn’t… Read more »

My name is Jeff

I don’t think being only three and two points behind 1st through 3rd places respectively is falling off the pace. It is the difference of one result. Losing Santi absolutely sucks, but it is not the end of our title hunt. Look at all the teams above us and you can find flaws all throughout those sides. They award you jack squat for being in first place in December (as we well know). As long as we are in striking distance leading into the last third of the season, I will be happy. If you want to see real depression… Read more »

Sheffield Goon

I absolutely agree. It’s just the history repeating itself thing that makes me doubt that our potential will be realised. I’ll never stop hoping of course…

My name is Jeff

I understand. It can wear on you. Keep the faith Sheffield!

Goon

I think it’s way too soon to write off Ramsey-Xhaka partnership. Have they played together in the middle a lot? They haven’t, to the best of my knowledge, started a game together as the midfield pivot. I think they need a run of games together and Ramsey must start in central mid. Our weakness right now is scoring. We depend way too much on Sanchez and I’m not looking forward to Iwobi leaving for AOC. IMHO he is our fourth most important player. We are weak on the wings. Ox is not consistent enough I’m afraid.

Chinaman

Nigeria haven’t qualified for AFCON so Iwobi will be with us through the season. Elneny however will miss January. Let’s hope one of Ramxha, Coqxha & Ramcoq come good. Not just for this season but for the future as well.

Stepanovs

Fucking fuck. Team doing ok but crying out for him in the middle. Massive blow. Fuck

Tim

Xhaka has got 3 months to stake his claim to that deep lying playmaker spot.

While I’m undeniably gutted cause Santi is a wizard; Granit is a 35 mil player and we can expect those kind of performances after bedding in.

Flashmob

The big part of that money is about the potential he has… not about his current value/capabilities

After all – Santi is a two footed european champion, with 10 more years experience (still at/or close to his best)i

YoungArse

I’ve got Plantar Fasciitis myself and it’s an absolute bastard. Feels like you’re walking on a broken foot when it flares up. My doctor said there isn’t even much you can do about them either as they’re a relatively unknown problem. However my doctor probably isn’t as good as Arsenal’s.

Good luck Santi!

bertieme

I think that surgery is required to the plantaris tendon means that it is not “simply” fasciitis (i.e. inflamation)

Yankee Gooner

For example, the Arsenal doctors likely know the difference between the plantar fascia–which is the tendon on the bottom of your foot where you experience plantar fasciitis (and that the suffix “-itis,” not the root, “fascia,” means inflammation)–and the plantaris tendon, which runs from the plantaris in your knee to your achilles, hence Cazorla’s “achilles” injury.

/end pedantry

btw

I had this, it can take years to clear up, I did not run for more than a year. You can fix it by surgery, which I guess he decided to do rather than waiting. If I remember correctly the surgery is pretty dramatic, so you don’t do it lightly. My guess is they were waiting and someone got tired of waiting.

Chris

Get well soon!

YoungArse

Thanks for clearing that up guys. As you can tell, I’m not a doctor! Haha!

ScotchEggsRules

We’ve been crap without him and damn lucky to get the results we have, but another 3 months without a Wenger surprise in his position?….I don’t wanna think about it.

Must be time to play Xhaka, at least he can ping a few passes. Just please, spare us Ramsey there.

Jremy

Get well Santi. I think we all know deep down that news probably spells the end of our title ambitions.

gordy

Hard to not agree. We know Wenger will not go out and buy someone in January as he only buys on the last day of the month and then it might only be another month before Santi comes back. If only there was a Spanish midfield player with some skill who can’t get in his present team.

Vonnie

Isco?

215Arse

Game. Over.

Goona get ya

waiting six weeks to decide this was probably not the best idea.

PFo

And not the first time they’ve pulled that move either.

Jo

Dude. Trying to rehab with physical therapy and avoid surgery is a common practice. Don’t be silly.

Greg

What an absolute shock that our medical team come to the fore yet again

nesso

Arsenal can kiss the premier league good bye

Alex

We lost also with Santi, guys…. But it’s a blow. Now time for you, Aaron *cough*

The 10-goals coffee machine

Why didnt they just operate him at first?

We could have him back at around the new year

Damn

Joel Carter

That’s the title gone. Damn it!

Goongot

I can totally see xhaka getting injured next game.. Arsenal and the december injury curse?

GH

pretty horrendous news, our second most important player behind kos in my opinion

the stoat

Merry fucking Christmas

ogeds

Jack oh Jack..see why you should have stayed?

PFo

The decision to let Jack Wilshere leave the week before the window shut, and all because Sam Fat F*ck Allardyce didn’t select him in his sucky England squad, is looking stupider and stupider by the week. Yes, Jack threw his toys out of the pram, but Arsene could have said ‘no’ to the move (a break clause would have been ideal, but someone said that wasn’t allowed between prem clubs?). It’s ridiculous that we have an Arsenal midfielder who’s fit and more-or-less in form and whose skill set is similar to Santi’s who we can’t use in our hour (or… Read more »

Lord Bendtner

November 30 23:59 — He’s gonna need surgery. Thanx a lot November If w are serious about the title, solving this issue is an absolute MUST! There’s two ways this can go. Ramsey takes this opportunity and impresses in that role, and by Jan we don’t need any replacement then. Or Ramsey sucks and by Jan he’s still not good enough and that means we need an emergency signing. Unfortunately, zidane is rotating his squad really well, goodbye Isco :S I really do hope it’s the former, I would rather have Ramsey develop into a beast in that position come… Read more »

Uba Ngenegbo

Forget Ramsey. The Welshman is not even good enough for our bench. Our natural replacement for Santi is playing at Bournemouth. Sad really.

Lord Bendtner

U know I was thinking exactly that! Perfect opportunity for Wilshere

GoonerWM

Why wasn’t this done in the summer so he could be fit for the season. It’s a problem we’ve known he’s had for quite some time, and poor player management in my opinion… but this is Arsenal.. what can you do:/

Arsepedant

Because in the summer no-one knew he’d get stepped on by some oaf from Ludogorets in October.

Melv

Big blow, team is far more fluent with him, as previous, I think Xhaka is a good player, not given the chance regularly enough for me, maybe its his temperament holds him back.
Without Santi theres not enough creation.

Futsboller

This is a huge blow. Wenger and Co. need to get our central midfield sorted out, and without Cazorla there to make our preferred 4-2-3-1 click, it might be time to try some alternatives. Perhaps a 4-3-3 against top-class opposition (with 3 of Ramsey, Xhaka, Coquelin, and Elneny behind the front 3 to dominate the midfield), a 4-1-4-1 against stonewall opposition (Xhaka in front of the backline, Ramsey and Ozil as twin 10s) to break them down, and perhaps even a 3-4-1-2 (Must, Kosc, Monr; Ramsey, Coquelin, Xhaka, Ox; Ozil; Walcott, Sanchez) until Bellerin is back, seeing as our right… Read more »

Javis

Granit Xhaka is going to be playing a lot of football from here on in. Him and Elneny seem a good fit, Coquelin too..you can’t replace what Santi offers but breaking the lines with passing it’s definitely Xhaka who is closest!

Unyoke The Ox

News made me say “f*ck” a little louder than I thought I would, at my desk.

ArsenalManitou

Coquelin + Xhaka should be our first choice deep lying midfield duo. Ramsey is a (super?) sub. He’s our back up to Walcott up front, Ozil at 10, and IMHO Xhaka. Elneny backs up Le Coq. Elneny and Ramsey are our least effective combo of the deep lying 4. There are plenty of games, he’ll get plenty of game time. If he wants to start, play better. We now have only 1 deep lying playmaker, Xhaka. Pray he’s well till Santi gets back because I don’t think we’ll find a back up at the appropriate level in January. Can anyone… Read more »

GunnerDareMacedonia

Yes but, we will lose elneny also for the africa cup i think for a month.

PFo

Hadn’t thought of that. Fuck. Why. Did. We. Loan. Wilshere.

Mike

He’s out of contract in the summer too ?

just me

Well, I we still had Wilshere…

DontForget

RIP our season

Giovani Rampeloti

if we don’t have the right replacement for Santi, why not change our tatics?
to suit other players better? i think we could do it

Alexstratz

FML seriously. I don’t even know what to say. Xhaka better get those pin-point passes going.

Gallas tantrums

His healing capacity is virtually very low. His injuries takes long to heal.

#Forçachape

Well, why does this feel like a Deja Vu? Hopefully Xhaka steps up, we need him. Either that, we change our tactics (doubtful), or spend on someone on winter window (doubtful) so we need our players to step up, but given our recent perfomances, i’m getting worried. Hopefully all the team steps up, otherwise will be another disappointing season

Merlin's Panini

looks like we can’t rely on Santi to stay fit anymore. I fear he may be broken and given he’s on the wrong side of 30 it’ll only start getting worse now. He’s a fantastic player but we need to find a solution for him to be someone who can make a contribution from the bench rather than relying on him to be fit. At least we now know his season is pretty much done and can look at what we have to find the midfield duo that works best. So far I would say it’s probably Xhaka and Elneny… Read more »

Anonymarse

Looks like we need to find a new first choice combo. It’s not like we’re short of options but none of them really clicking right now.

We’ve yet to try Ozil in there.

PFo

In a word, no. But Iwobi has all the skills to do it, alongside a holding player.

Anonymarse

He seems like the closest thing we have to another Santi. Not sure Wenger will want to take him out of the attack though.

Papas

this is not related to the Santi tragedy but I have been reading stuff about Ozil apparently regretting ever coming to us and wanting to go back to that scummy club whence we bought him…this is disturbing, specially as no one linked to the Arsenal has denied or confirmed this nasty rumour…do my fellow Gooners know different?

Papas

am I being thumbed down because my question is irrelevant or because people do not like what I ask? I thought it a perfectly reasonable question to ask…only this morning a mate of mine sent me a link to a telegraph story about the same…

Jenko's Arsenal footie pyjamas

Have we collectively forgiven Cesc yet? I might cut the red wire and suggest we bring him back

The Wizard of Oz(il)

No Cazorla, no win… Fuckin knew it… There is absolutely no one like him in the squad, make no mistake about it!! Xhaka needs a lot of work on his skills before he can replace him! I fuckin’ knew it… I honestly hope that I’m wrong, but this is a shitshow right here…

gunnertron

Sad news.

He's got no hair but we don't care...

Don’t worry, the manager will buy replacement for Santi in the January window….hahaha!

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