Monday 21 November 2016

Arsenal Wishing For Santi To Come Early

Christmas is only around the corner and so many kids out there are anxiously waiting to see what Santa brings them. As a football club you wouldn't think Arsenal would have a wish list from Santa, but what they do need in an awful hurry is the return of Santi Cazorla. It's only five weeks to Christmas, but if the magical little Spanish man doesn't come back soon it could be too late for their title chances.

Since he picked up his injury late in the 6-0 win over Ludogorets they have struggled to find any fluency. Not only have the goals dried up, but the team aren't even making many chances. The last two games may have been against two of the better teams in the league, but the chances had dried up before Arsenal played Spurs and United.

In those two games things got decidedly worse though with Arsenal only managing one attempt on target in each game. There's a lot to be said for the team remaining unbeaten since the opening day of the season, but they have drawn three of their last four games. It's been a long time since there were two points for a win and three draws in four games has seen Arsenal drop back to fourth place.

Of course Arsenal are still well in the picture for the title, but they need to find their mojo again and quickly too. If Santi can't play then something else has to be tried and maybe it's time for Granit Xhaka to become a more important and regular member of the team. Is it possible that Aaron Ramsey could play alongside him and a combination of the two of them might give the team the injection it needs from midfield.

I certainly think it has to be better than playing Ramsey in a wide position where he just isn't suited to playing. There is no point in fitting players into the team out of position when others can play far better in that position. I'm not knocking Ramsey, but I think he has to be played in a position where he can affect the game or not at all. 

The next few league games aren't as hard as the last two, but they're by no means easy and there's the small matter of a game with PSG on Wednesday night too. Arsenal need to put a run of a few wins together to keep pace at the top of the table and to show that they can cope without that man Santi. It's not going to be easy for them, but Arsene Wenger has to find a way forward from the place the team finds itself in right now.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

2 comments:

  1. Arsene Wenger can no longer motivate the players.They just seem to turn up and play with no set plan.There does not seem to be any urgency about their play.
    PS:What does Steve Bould do? Is he under instruction to sit in his seat at every game and just chew gum?

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    1. I'm not so sure he can't motivate the players, but he certainly seems to be having a problem doing so.

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