Santi Cazorla’s Role At Arsenal Still Up For Debate

Santi Cazorla has been an under-the-radar regular with the Arsenal starting XI since he arrived. Based on his play time alone, he has been indispensable. He has played over 2500 minutes in every season at Arsenal and is on pace to do it again. Not only that, but his versatility has kept him moving about the starting XI. Having two strong feet means that he can play literally anywhere and that has landed him the vacant holding role next to Francis Coquelin.

Not exactly where we expected to find himself when he joined the club.

Surprisingly though, it looked to have been a great fit. Cazorla has the ability to make the sneaky tackle, as attested to by his 2.1 tackles won per match, his highest number since his days at Malaga (via WhoScored.com).

More from Arsenal News

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

But there were still some who called his ability to play this role into question. No matter how sneaky he is, he is still tremendously undersized for the role. He has been acting as a midfield pivot, receiving the ball from the defense and turning it up field, a role that he was quite pleased to have. But again, when you exist in that area of the pitch, you are going to fall prey to some larger players. And Santi Cazorla has.

Charlie Nicholas has questioned Cazorla’s continual usage at the role, saying via Sky Sports: “I’m still unsure whether Cazorla is right for certain games in the deep lying midfield. He’s got wonderful ability, two great feet but when you’re asking him to do the other side of these games the hard yards, it’s a difficult process for him. I think he was one of those who were exposed against Bayern.”

Nicholas is absolutely right. Bayern has a tendency to bring out the weak points of the team and Cazorla looked to be a weak point. Granted, their were few strong points, and that may come down to exhaustion, but Cazorla’s role was not nearly as effective.

Not only that, but the little Spaniard has become a bit of a liability for Arsenal when it comes to scoring goals. Twice against Bayern, Cazorla had the ball at his feet with just the goalie to beat. One time Manuel Neuer outfoxed him and the other time Cazorla outfoxed himself, kicking the ball straight up into the air.

Next: What If Santi Cazorla Was A Pokemon?

Those are balls that have to find the back of the net. No excuses. They go in, and Arsenal have their hopes reignited. When you are an offensive player like Cazorla with tremendous feet and the ability to get through the defense, you have to be able to score. Yet despite all of Arsenal’s heavy scoring, Cazorla has yet to score a goal.

It begs to be mentioned that last season, Cazorla scored seven goals for Arsenal. Not the worst of tallies from a midfielder. But when you look at how they were scored you will noticed that six of those seven were penalties (via WhoScored.com). That means he scored one goal all season. That’s hard to imagine. Cazorla is a forward, attacking player, despite his holding role. He is going to be in goal-scoring situations where he cannot pass the ball anymore. He was in two against Bayern. He has to learn how to put that final ball away.

Santi Cazorla is always going to be a versatile and useful player for Arsenal but there are times when he seems to be one of the least useful players on the pitch. Charlie Nicholas may be onto something when he cites the match-ups as the reason.