Cazorla's Long Injury Won't Hurt Arsenal...IF the Zillage Steps Up

Arsenal should be renamed HFC, Hospital Football Club. They are addicted to injuries, and I'm sure some weirdo is secretly rubbing their paws together with glee each time an Arsenal player ends up on the sidelines for a long period of time.

This time, it's Santi Cazorla, one of Arsenal's best players and it may seem like a huge blow that would affect their season. He's so good that Arsenal fans even have a chant for him which must mean he's extra special. I'm still waiting till I get my own chant.  But if other players rise up, then it shouldn't be that big of a loss.

Cazorla is a really good footballer, but he is no Vieira. He does not dominate a game, or set the tone. In big games against physical teams, he shrinks and finds it difficult to impose himself. Wenger, for all these years, has not found a replacement for Vieira, hence why they have always struggled against Chelsea, and Stoke City, who easily outmuscle them in midfield and end up beating them by winning that battle.






With Santi out, my eyes are on the Zillage. This is where he can prove to guys like me that he's world class. He had the opportunity to do so when Arsenal made the great escape with the 3-0 win over Olympiakos, but apart from the great pass to Ramsey that set up the first G, he didn't really run the game in the way that I wanted him to. If Arsenal are to win the title, that's what Ozil needs to do. He has to be fully visible for the bulk of the game, and set the tempo. That means more touches on the ball, carrying it forward and constantly creating attacks that all run through him. He can't waltz in and out of a match at his choosing.

Ozil is a very smart player. That is his greatest strength, in having a high understanding of the game of football. Most especially in the playmaking sense. But I am not one for stats, because people will hurl his assists record this season as proof that he's doing his job and I dare not question his ability.

Sorry, but I have and will always use the eye test. I go by what I see on the pitch, and I don't see Ozil controlling the game in the same way that Vieira used to for Arsenal. I don't want the game to go ten minutes without the Zillage's name not being mentioned. He has to emulate what Iniesta does at Barcelona who is all over the pitch.

Iniesta by nature is an attacking midfielder, but with Xavi leaving, he now does work in the central midfield area as well. The amount of ground he covers, the touches he has on the ball and how he is always involved in all the attacks that Barcelona make is what I want from Ozil. He should be in the Nou Camp with a pen, pad and bottle of Coconut Juice, and take notes as to how the Spaniard plays. I want to see that hunger and desire and him saying to Wenger: "Give me that ball coach, I want to run the team, let me be Arsenal's talisman."


The Zillage...IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO STEP THE HELL UP FOR ARSENAL.


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 HH