Arsenal: Santi Cazorla The Missing Piece

Arsenal struggled in the second half of last season with many injuries. Santi Cazorla was the missing piece, as proven by his performance against Basel.

Arsenal were excellent for the opening months of last season. Coming off a momentum building end to the year before in which performances and results had taken a major upturn, the FA Cup was hoisted high for the second consecutive season and with Petr Cech then signing in the summer, there was an expectant feeling surrounding the Emirates as the Premier League trophy loomed large.

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However, as we all know too well, while the Gunners were the team to beat through the first few months of the year, they were then struggling to beat anyone just a few months later as both Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City surged past as primary title contenders down the stretch. Much of the team’s shortcomings were fairly put down to absent players due to injury. One, though, was left out of the debate, and I myself underestimated his influence on the team.

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Santi Cazorla is the centrepiece of this side. While Mesut Ozil stole the show with his assists, and Alexis Sanchez grabs the headlines with his jaw-dropping moments of sublime skill and ability, it is the metronome, the consistent, reliable and dependable Cazorla that is the integral piece to Arsene Wenger’s team.

His absence in the latter half of last season was too much for the squad to overcome, lacking the calming influence in the centre of midfield, often looking short of ideas when in possession, simply passing for the sake of passing, without any direction or drive. In recent weeks, though, Arsenal have been back to their sublime best, and it is, in large part at least, down to the talents of Cazorla.

Throughout the demolition of Basel on Wednesday night, in which the headlines will go to two-goal Theo Walcott and workhorse extraordinaire Sanchez, the man who impressed me as much as anyone was Cazorla. The little magician’s understanding of attacking football is truly mindblowing. He never loses the ball while always looking to play forward, he releases the ball at the perfect time, neglecting the easy 5-yard pass to slot a 20-yard ball into the feet of the onrushing Walcott, still managing to complete 90% of his passes.

His ball for the Sanchez to run onto for Theo’s first goal is truly delightful, a display of his vision, quick thinking and then technical ability to execute. Throughout the match, he was always in control of the game, marshalling his troops, orchestrating proceedings the deep-lying role that he has made his own in recent seasons.

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Cazorla is a wonderful player who has been under-appreciated by many Arsenal fans, myself included, for far too long. His value to the team was shown last year in his absence. Now, it’s being displayed once more. This time in his brilliance.