Arsenal: Coping With Santi Cazorla Injury Should Come Easily

Arsenal are without Santi Cazorla for the Manchester United clash, but there are several ways of overcoming this absence.

These past few matches have proven one clear, hard fact about Arsenal – Santi Cazorla is a necessity. Not even that, but Santi Cazorla’s position is a necessity. There has to be that guy who falls deep and pushes play forward.

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Cazorla has mastered that role, but in light of his absence, there has to be a way to makeshift a method to make his role not so heavily missed.

The most obvious solution is the one I keep recommending – just put Ramsey there. It may not be as ironed out as the Spaniard’s play, but at the very least we know Ramsey has the endurance and the ability to keep play moving forward.

Compare that to Xhakalin, neither of whom is that proficient in the job yet, although Xhaka does seem to be growing more inclined towards it.

I accept that Wenger is about as likely to do this as he is to start Yaya Sanogo though, so I won’t spend so much time beating this point to death.

Another option comes in the form of Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean had a long, hard week, but if we know anything about him, it’s that he won’t be phased. At least not early on. He plays deep in the defense and he pushes play forward, just like Cazorla.

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Or at least he did, before becoming a striker.

Yes, I am here again, advocating for Giroud to start, not just to give the big man a chance, but to free up Alexis to do a job that desperately needs to be done. Someone has to take that ball from the defense and drive forward quickly, fueling the counter attack.

Alexis is a wide midfield position can account for that role. He has done if before. He can slice and dice from left to right and put Arsenal in good positions to strike and strike fast. That is absolutely paramount against United. Don’t let them feel like they have a chance – put the ball in the back of the net early and don’t look back.

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There may not be many threats on United’s side, due to injury and suspension, but Arsenal has to worry about their own threats. If they can’t create chances, they can’t score, and those chances start from deep. Cazorla has to be made up for.