Santi Cazorla says he and his Arsenal teammates can help Mesut Ozil find the confidence he needs to flourish at the Emirates and stressed that dips in form are normal for any player.
The Spaniard, who is well placed to talk about consistency issues having himself struggled to exert his influence on games earlier this season, told Arsenal Player that he hopes the German international will soon be back to his best.
“The problem Mesut [Ozil] has is when he’s on form everyone can play off him and when his form drops a bit, he is missed.
“You have to make him feel appreciated and give him the confidence he needs, he’s a key player for us and let’s hope that he gets back on form. We all have great confidence in him.”
“I don’t think the winter break is a big factor. The truth is every player has a little dip at some point in the season, it’s very difficult to always be on top form.”
In a separate interview with French television station RMC (transcript via Arsenal French Club), the diminutive midfielder also hailed Olivier Giroud saying the Frenchman can count himself up there with the best strikers in the Premier League.
“He’s a great striker and he’s demonstrated that since the beginning of the season. He’s not just our centre forward he’s also important to the French national team, he’s evolved to a high level and is getting better every year.
“For me he’s on the same level as the other strikers in the league. He’s sturdy and can keep hold of the ball. He’s effective with the ball at his feet and in the air. He’s a little different to what is the norm in England but he brings us a lot.”
Santi also touched on the forthcoming double-header with Bayern Munich admitting the reigning champions of Europe pose a tough challenge.
“It will be very difficult for us because we will play the defending champions. We played them last season and we have to learn from that defeat. The first game is at home and we need to tackle the second game in Munich with an advantage.
“We’re aware that they are evolving and playing at a dramatic level at the moment with players of the highest calibre. When we play at our best though, we can beat anyone.
“We’ll attempt to win the Premier League and achieve great things in the Champions League. I hope we manage to win trophies.”
Too many wizards in the pic……
Arsenal midfield 2014. Made in hogwarts.
Tonight we face voldemort.
More like tonight we face Voldemort with all his Horcruxes destroyed…
A Voldemort at his weakest.
Super gay analogy
super gay. Sounds like an original idea for a comic hero
and me reckon an expelliarmus kind of spell from our BFG would take the Dutchskunk’s knee off his leg.
As long as Mertesacker keeps up his highly successful Gandalf impression I do not care whether our midfielders are Harry Potters or Baba Yaga.
You’re a wizard, Herold.
@greektragedy: Yeah super gay, it is sexually attracted to analogies of the same gender
Greek, I reckon you’d fit right in with the president of Russia and the mayor of Sochi.
We smash the Mancs tonight, go top of the league, then we’re on course. Also, John Terry was and is still a cunt.
For the people saying we need a striker who makes runs through the middle to get the best out of Ozil, didn’t he play with Benzema week in week out at Real?
Benzema doesnt play for Arsenal…
Good grief.
And with Ronaldo, and Di Maria. And, well, and I say that as a French guy, to dare the comparison between Benzema and Giroud… WOW.
although he did have Ronaldo, Di Maria, and their full backs as well…I get what you’re saying though
eh guys.. he is the leading assister in europe… how far must he be better than everyone else for your approval?
Let’s wave our magic wands and make them shit as they are..COYG!!
We have Little Mozart, Cazorla the Spanish magician, and özil. We are 3 ways fucked to the weekend. God what a great midfield and year to watch Gunner football. COYG!
Mozart, Gaspar Sanz and Beethoven
Am I the only one who believes we need a strong holding midfielder in the place of arteta? Dont get me wrong, Arteta is very good, but he is more creative than physical and more often then not, teams press and harry him and You need someone that can hold off such challenges better. 4 in defence, Arteta+ DM and a 3 from our plethora of choices in the AM department. I wouldnt be surprised if Wenger sold Podolski. Fact is, we have Poldi, Wilshere, Cazorla, Rosicky, Ozil, Ramsey, Theo and the Ox competing for 3 midfield positions. Which is… Read more »
Are we gonna win the league this season? I’ll say… yes, we still can. Are we gonna beat Man U tonight? Well, considering our mental block where Man U is concerned, I don’t see us doing so even though they’re in a funk. Wenger’s tentativeness & wariness where United is concerned always seems to rub off on his players. Hell, you could dress up West Ham’s under 21 squad in Man U jerseys and we’d still have a hard time beating them. Man U might be Voldermot but Wenger’s no Harry Potter. I’m guessing a draw will be seen as… Read more »
Man $hitty can have the Carling Cup.
The Arsenal can have the Triple.
they call it the treble round here.
Here comes treble……..badum tsssssssss……..
less talk. more wins please. keep your head up guys. and gimme something to shut my heathen friends up. we want big wins against big teams. up the arse! forever arsenal.
No way lol Sunderland for the comedy cup surely?
Arsenal to win 6-0 tonight, rvp gets a red card for throwing a little boy tantrum and shrek gets so angry he headbutts the post after the sixth goal goes in and knocks himself out.
Moyes just sits on the bench shaking his head and one tear comes down his face and Wenger gives him some tissues before they shake hands while the crowd sing we are top of the league!
I had a dream about this match last night. POB scored an own goal off the opening kick-off, then got into an argument with Mark Clattenburg over whether or not he had blown his whistle to start the match, and ended up getting sent off. Moyes then used all three of his subs, but they were all Gunnersauruses. Then all the other Manchester players turned into Gunnersauruses. They let the kids from the family section come onto the field and helped them all score goals on the Manchester net while the Arsenal players signed autographs. The final score was 274-0.… Read more »
It’s dangerous to feel a sense of entitlement as a supporter (and unjustified) but I really WANT a win tonight. I hate Manchester United more than any club (Sp*rs have always engendered ridicule for me rather than hatred), the stick you get from their ‘fans’ in London and around the country is so fucking irritating and I really want us to make a bad situation for them even worse and to make the most of Chelski slipping up last night. Here’s hoping, eh. I believe in this team’s quality, although I’m not sure that they have a complete winning mentality… Read more »
Believe me, when comparing the hatred we both have for united, yours will certainly appear as a little bit of likeness. I still haven’t seen anyone who hates Manchester united more than my humble self, Disliked them from the very first day I heard their name then when I watched them, my hatred was justified
More than me? When Van Judas played his first game against us, I was going mental. That was before the game even started. The missus had to explain to neighbours that my very loud shouts of ‘Die you fucking prick, Fuck off etc’ were not part of a domestic. The cat ran off for about 24 hours. Terrified. In fact, I almost vomited (I actually did feel sick, I’m not kidding) when I saw him come on for Utd in that fucking shirt at Everton for his first game for the scum. There are three teams I despise more than… Read more »
have a lie down
I feel for your wife. And your cat.
But tell us how you REALLY feel …
Neil, your rant is justified and I completely feel the same way. Reading what you had to say brought a tear to my eye and a lump in my throat.
UTA.
Let’s gun them down real hard…COYG!
I think a win tonight would definitely bring us another three points. If I was Wenger I would make the most of those three points and add them to the 55 points we already have in the Premier League which would almost certainly take us above Chelsea. By doing this it would mean that Chelsea would not be top of the table any more. This would bring a renewed confidence to the team and would make quite a few Arsenal fans more happy.
I like the way you think!
He’s clearly a madman. It’ll never work.
As`well as depriving Utd of those same three points….which would, i think, irretrievably consign them to the hinterlands of Thursday night football, Channel 4/5, and day-trips to Vladivostok……until even that priviledge gets snatched away from them by Southampton…whose city would THEN begin to see more of their OWN teams shirts than Manure’s…and on the seventh day, Bergkamp rested……….
Actually, those three dropped points would remove Man Ure from consideration even for Thursday night football. I’d love to see how their proposed big summer spending spree will work out when they aren’t even going to be in the Europa League next year. Cunts.
Clap your hands if you hate utd…
violent applause ensues
I wouldn’t even waste my energy confirming their presence
some people want fancy results against man utd
A team that we have not beaten in ages
i will be happy with a 1-0 win over them
Too nervy…..let’s stick to the usual…2-0, between the 47 and 55th minutes
by ages i mean 80% of the time they have come out as winners
not hating
just saying the facts
hoping for an arsenal win
It’s raining piss just like the chelski game after 6-3 with morn shitty … Pls pls pls not another 0-0 tonight. After the thrashing we got on Saturday, after such an disgusting performance we need a win to make sure we r in with a chance for the title. After so Long being top of the league it just doesn’t feel right to be behind those two super rich cunts.
I am rooting for an Arsenal win tonight.
We don’t have Ramsey or Flamini but that doesn’t mean we don’t have quality. AFC needs to make the most of who is available. If the players have the right mentality they can beat Utd tonight.
The key to a win I think is being efficient. Let the players remember what they did to Napoli (1st leg), Dortmund (2nd leg), Crystal Palace (last week). They can win! COYG
Hope the players know how important it is to get back on the top of the table tonight and not throw the opportunity away. They have to fight to get it as it has never been easy playing those slackers utd who are always motivated playing Arsenal.
A bit late for this one, but here it goes:
I´d love to wave Giroud´s wand.
*Steals the first coat I see and run*
Notice how when praising Giroud, he doesn’t mention anything about goal scoring ability! As a lone striker, I would have thought that’s his main responsibility. People (Arsenal fans) are in denial therefore look past that because he “holds the ball up and creates space for others”..
So basically giroud is more a playmaker than a goal scorer … Nothing wrong with that
Ooooo Santiii Cazorlaaaa! Can’t wait for the stadium to erupt with that chant once he smashes in a pile driver taking Van Cuntsie’s head along with it. What a sight that would be!
Santi is a nice guy but Giroud is a rung below the very best in the league.
Still waiting for him and Ozil to smash a team.
Could it be a they need a different type of striker to make it work? A tad unfair on Giroud but we need the option of a quick one.
For me,….Any win wil do….a draw is unacceptable….a lose,sucidal!…
If we don’t beat them now,we never will. They must suffer as we suffered all those years. They must watch as all hope is ripped from them in an instant.
I’ll be content with a 1-0 win. But I’d love for us to wipe the fucking floor with those scum and that grey haired twat.