Tag Archives: Arsenal she wore

Santi Cazorla’s Arsenal career over – who will replace him?

The news was as expected. Santi Cazorla has been told to undergo surgery for Achilles tendon injury.

A quick Google of recovery times shows that after surgery, someone will be able to walk unaided after 6 – 12 weeks. But will not be able to return to full activity for 6 months. Taking into account we are a football club, not a normal person going physio once a week, you could probably guestimate that Cazorla will be out for 4-6 months. Pretty much ruling him out for the season.

It is then safe to assume that Santi Cazorla’s Arsenal career is over.

Arsenal's Santi Cazorla goes down injured against Norwich City.

He is 32 in a few weeks and with 1 year left on his contract, Arsenal were already debating as to whether to reward him with a new contract. There had been little talk of one being on the table. Cazorla had also spoken a few times about finishing his career in Spain.

With his age and his recent injury record (2 serious injuries in 12 months) it will be a very big risk for Arsenal to offer Cazorla anything more than a one year deal. Cazorla would be crazy to accept – knowing that a Spanish club would possibly offer him more.

So the love story of Arsenal and their cheeky chappy Spanish dwarf is over.

So where does this leave Arsenal’s midfield?

We only discussed a week ago about how much Arsenal were missing Santi Cazorla. With his career at the club now almost certainly over, it is time to look at the options.

Like for like replacement

Santi Cazorla is unique. His two footedness is only equalled by Ronnie O’Sullivan’s ambidextrous snooker playing.

He might be small, and not be physically capable for a heated midfield battle, but he always gave his all, and his control, dribbling and passing ability got him out of trouble when up against bigger men.

He was able to wriggle out of tight situations where he should really be getting overpowered with ease. A drop of the should, a quick pass off both feet. And it is the way he opened up both sides of the pitch that made him such a danger.

The fact is, there is no one in world football who is as gifted off both feet as Santi Cazorla. So a like for like replacement is unlikely.

You might see the likes of Isco get mentioned as a replacement, yet he is more lightweight and does not have Santi’s gifts.

Nice midfielder Vincent Koziello has had some comparisons to Cazorla. But this is more due to his size than his ability. Cazorla is far superior.

The only man who gets close to Cazorla’s attributes is Dimitri Payet. But he does not have the attitude of Cazorla. He would not be able to adapt to playing deeper.

So the realise is, a like for like replacement is an unrealistic demand.

Midfield Combinations

If we can not get in a like for like replacement, we will have to look at getting the midfield pairing right. The strength of two being great than one (and the power of three setting us free).

Discounting Cazorla, Arsenal currently have 5 central midfielder’s on their books to chose from going forward (including 1 on loan). How would they match up, and how could they partner with each other?

Francis Coquelin: The legs of the midfield. He covers the ground. Arsenal’s Kante. It is he who when partnered with Cazorla, allowed Santi to stroll through a lot of games. He was Cazorla’s legs. Getting round the park, winning the ball, and laying it off to the Spaniard. It is unlikely that we will get in a player as gifted on the ball as Santi, so Coquelin’s lack of ability on the ball could see him drop down the pecking order.

Granit Xhaka: Once he gets up to speed (I am still baffled as to why Xhaka is not yet playing regulary), Xhaka will be a terrific ball playing holding midfielder. Very much in the Xabi Alonso / Michael Carrick role, he has a terrific passing range, but also has very good defensive awareness and a bit in the tackle. He is a bit more defensive than Cazorla, not as good in tight situations, and it just one footed. But his passing ability will be essential when it comes to replacing Cazorla.

Mohamed Elneny: Kind of a mix of Coquelin and Xhaka. He doesn’t cover as much defensively as Coquelin, but can get round the park more than Xhaka. He is a better passer than the Frenchman, but no where near as good as Granit. He has been exposed in a couple of recent games for not giving the defence enough cover, and not quite having enough creativity. He has a place in the Arsenal squad, but as cover, rather than first choice.

Jack Wilshere: By now he should be Arsenal captain. Instead he is on loan at Bournemouth. Some think, like Cazorla, he will not be seen at Arsenal again. If fit and firing, he would offer very similar to what Cazorla did. The passing ability, being able to take the ball in tight situations and wriggle out of them, he should be exceptional. He just lacks Cazorla’s ambidextrous. And then we have his injuries. Last year we planned to build the midfield around him, and he got injured. Can you really pencil a player into the 1^st team if he can not be relied upon? I am not sure. Also, if Granit xhaka is behind him, Mesut Ozil ahead, we have a midfield 3 of left footers. Not much balance.

Aaron Ramsey: And that leaves everyones favourite, Aaron Ramsey. Who had a shocker mid week. But his class is undeniable (even if some do try and deny it). For me, his best position is as the ‘waterboy’ of the team. Doing the hard work between someone more defensive and someone more attacking. If we are under the cosh, he has the defensive awareness to sit in alongside the defensive midfielder. If we are on top, he is free to get forward and support the front 4. He just needs to be played in his right position.

So an Aaron Ramsey / Granit Xhaka combination. And it is a combination that could work.

One left footed, the other right, gives us balance not seen since Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit. Xhaka has the defensive awareness and ability on the ball to sit in front of the back 4 and start the play, as Petit used too. Meanwhile Ramsey has the legs to get around the field, press a bit higher, a bit like Vieira did.

With Mesut Ozil ahead, it should give us plenty of creative fluidity, and plenty of defensive cover.

We would then have the options of Jack Wilshere, Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin as cover depending on the opposition / injury situation.

Losing Cazorla will be tough. A popular player who offered so much on the pitch. But we now need to move on. Let’s get the Xhaka / Ramsey axis developed.

Who do you think should play central midfield (pick 2):

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC

Arsenal v Basel – Still Not Sold Out

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With just 8 days to go, Arsenal v Basel in the Champions League is still not sold out.To be exact, as of the moment of me writing this article, there are 761 tickets left. All but one in the Clock End. All but 2 in the Clock End Upper.

in the grand scheme of things, 761 tickets remaining is not a great deal. with a stadium capacity of 60,432, 761 amounts to 1.29%.

Despite their being a little over 1% of tickets remaining, the fact the club have opened their friends and family system allowing members to buy up to 4 tickets shows the trouble they have had shifting tickets for this fixture.

But why is this?

Lack of love for the Champions League

A big factor.

I am a genuine believer the Champions League is losing its clout. Losing its draw. People are falling out of love with it.

A mid week game, when money is tight, people have work the next day, to play mediocre European opposition, in a group that we should get out of easily. It is just not of interest.

Come the knock out stages, interest peaks, but the group stages fail to generate an interest.

For a few years I have not gone to Champions League group stages. I just do not enjoy them anymore. Many others seem to do the same thing. UK television ratings for the Champions League have nosedived since it moved from ITV and Sky Sports.

There is simply not the interest in the Champions League that there was 10 years ago.

Meanwhile, the League Cup (or whatever it is now called) – a competition which was dying out 10 years ago, is getting more interest.

Tonight we play Nottingham Forest away. The away section sold out quickly. I bet if we were playing them at home, we would have easily sold out.

Seeing some youngsters play, in a knockout competition, against a legendary English side that we have not played for a decade. It generates interest.

The Champions League is boring. It is tired. The group stages are going through the motions. A case of just waiting for the usual suspects to make the last 16. Then the competition really begins.

I love cricket. A few years ago, the World Cup format was messed around with.

In 1999, they changed the format to have 2 groups of 8, where the top 3 in each group went through to a secondary group stage called the Super 6’s. From this, the top 4 went through to the knockout stages.

It elongated the competition, it was boring. In the group stages everyone was just waiting for them to be over, so that the superior teams could finally face eachother. Even the Super 6’s were boring, with a few dead rubbers.

In 2011 they changed the format and the competition rejuvenated itself.

The Champions League is a bit like that. It is now dull. You get the odd surprise, but in 90% of the cases, the sides that finish 1^st and 2^nd are the sides that you would expect to finish 1^st and 2^nd.

It is becoming boring. And it is not just at Arsenal. Other clubs in England have struggled to sell out recently (Manchester United have struggled for years). Across Europe as well. Coupled with the falling TV figures, it is just not a competition which wets the appetite anymore.

Lack of love for The Arsenal

It is impossible to write an article about tickets without mention the apathy some fans have with Arsenal at the moment.

Whilst in this case, I imagine it is not a big effecter. It would have had a minor effect. There are a few hundred fans who no longer go to games, who otherwise would have got tickets for the Basel game. They are missing.

There are also many others who do still go to games, but now cherry pick them. They would see a game like this as just putting more money in Stan Kroenke’s pocket. They are not on a complete boycott, but the small erosion for love in The Arsenal results in them not going the extra mile to lose a Wednesday night to go and watch them.

Ticket Exchange Poker

You are not able to put your ticket up on the clubs Ticket Exchange until the game is sold out. This also means you can not buy a ticket on Ticket Exchange until the game has sold out. What this results in is a big game of poker. He who blinks first.

Currently 99% of the tickets available are in the Clock End Upper. The majority of these are in the back few rows of the Clock End. Up in the clouds, so to speak. Not a great view, you feel a million miles from the play. A lack of atmosphere, and a long old walk to the top.

I have sat up the back there before and it is not nice.

Also it is more expensive. Tickets in the clouds are £43.50. Where I sit, lower tier, it is £36.50. £7 might not seem much, but to a student, or to a youngster, it is.

Basically it is massively advantageous to not blink first. Let others get worried, buy their ticket up in the clouds, let it go to Ticket Exchange, then have a great selection of tickets at lower prices.

Of course, come the weekend, if it has not sold out, you can still snap up a ticket in the Clock End Upper Tier anyway. But until then, hundreds are sitting and waiting. A massive game of Ticket Exchange Poker.

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC

Lucas Perez, Aaron Ramsey, Chris Coleman & Watford Away

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Lucas Perez

So we all know how it works by now:

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So a player gets his move away from the club, or his new contract, and Arsenal simply get used, abused and spat out. At no point were Arsenal actually interested, but the furore caused leads fans to get excited, than disappointed, then attack the club.

I doubt if Arsenal are interested in Lucas Perez (and fully expect this article to be RT’d thousands of times when we do sign him). We have been linked to so many players this summer. Moist is either press speculation, or, like with Riyad Mahrez, an agent using the Arsenal name to gain publicity to get a better deal.

Let’s stop believing everything we read.

Aaron Ramsey

Arsene Wenger was right when, after Liverpool, he said he just can not win (0 wins from 2 games shows that).

He did not player Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil or Olivier Giroud, and was bashed left, right and centre over it. But had they played, and got injured, everyone would have moaned that they were rushed back, not given the correct time off.

Fast forward 10 days, and Aaron Ramsey is out injured for a month after playing in the opening game of the season against Liverpool.

Chris Coleman has gone on to say: “I think we all expected him to [miss the start of the season].

“So I don’t know what happened between then and when he ended up on the pitch.

“Obviously only Arsenal can answer that. I think, to a man, it was a bit of a surprise he started.”

And there we have the catch 22 Arsene Wenger was talking about. He plays a player, that player gets injured, people moan that he should not have played him. He does not play a player, giving him a bit more rest, people then moan he should have played him.

Due to suspension, Aaron Ramsey’s last game for Wales was 1^st July. A week before Laurent Koscileny and Olivier Giroud. In fact, the Frenchmen played 3 more games after Aaron Ramsey’s last game.

Koscielny returned to the Arsenal starting 11 for Leicester. A week after the first game. So Coleman’s talk about Ramsey being treated differently is completely rubbish.

I also laugh at Chris Coleman’s dig at Arsene Wenger “A lot has been said about their injury list, they’re doing the same things now as they’ve always done – they’re not going to change now.”

So he is moaning that we treated Ramsey different to Koscielny, than saying we are doing the same as we have always done? How can both of these be correct?

Chris Coleman is an average manager who got lucky by coming into a Wales team with someone like Gareth Bale in it.

Coleman managed 117 games for Coventry, he had a win percentage of 29.1%. I think he has been listening to former Dutch physio and career critique Raymond “unemployed” Verheijen too much.

Watford Away

So we have a distraction of the transfer window coming up in the shape of Watford away. At least those of us who go have something else to think about / look forward too. A decent trip that is local but still feels like an away game.

At times like this I feel sorry for those who live their footballing lives from behind a keyboard, or on a smart phone. It must be hard sitting their day in day out, not having a game to look forward to, not having the release of 90 minutes.

Enjoy your bitching and moaning online before, during and after the game. I will be in the pub, in the ground, then in the pub again, enjoying the company of my pals.

Up the Arsenal.

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC