Cazorla is Arsenal’s midfield Messi
By Simon Rose
Nevermind Sahin, enjoy Cazorla
Okay, so we’re not signing Nuri Sahin. So be it. I wasn’t entirely sure how Arsenal would use him and he just seemed like he would be another technically-proficient midfield body. Apparently the chap, thus far essentially a squad player at Real Madrid, is on £115,000 a week. This is the kind of financial mountain that Arsenal face in attempting to improve our squad. To pay a loan fee and big wages for a year is a considerable outlay. If we were signing such a player to be a major front-line starter - say if this was the only deal on the table for Santi Cazorla - then perhaps it would be worth doing. Otherwise it isn’t. And anyway we’ve signed Cazorla already.
Santi Cazorla is quite blatantly, already, a grade A player. You only had to watch him once, at any moment against Sunderland, to see his undoubted immense quality. Fast in mind and fast in feet, this nimble creator, with a low centre of gravity, is like a midfield hummingbird equivalent of Lionel Messi. I have long likened Messi to being a hummingbird – check The Gooner, I can’t remember which issue – as he zips so fast from one spurt of action to the next, his movement is like a blur. You know that he has acted, you can see the outcome, a pass or a shot or a goal, but you just can’t necessarily be sure that you have seen it with the naked eye.
Sunderland clearly had no idea what Cazorla intended to do next, last weekend. At times, Cazorla was too fast (and clever) for his teammates too. The quicker the rest of Arsenal’s players get onto Cazorla’s wavelength the better. His inspiration is 'in the moment', he is a football artist, but he will have to educate his colleagues of the sorts of things that he will look to do and that when he is 'here' he is looking to do 'this' and when he is 'there' he is likely to do 'that'.
Cazorla is one of those vital commodities so rare in world football: he is a play-switcher. He can switch play in an instant, from one side of the field to the other, short or long. He can entirely dictate the play, by instantly changing its nature. His low centre of gravity allows him to switch balance from left to right, right to left, incredibly quickly. Crucially too, he is two-footed, equally adept on either foot. Not only was it great that he cracked a long-ranger early last week against Sunderland, but he switched the ball onto his left foot to do it, as that is where the greater space and freedom was for the shot.
Wow, what a signing! Cazorla is practically a grade A* signing, nevermind grade A. Hopefully people will start to do him the credit of pronouncing his name properly soon too. It isn’t Ca-zorla. And it definitely isn’t Car-zola. From what I know from my wife, who was a Spanish teacher, and from a Spanish friend of ours, the Z is a ‘th’ and largely forget the ‘r’, it’s more like a silent Spanish rolled ‘r’ than a hard ‘r’. It should be a quick snappy Ca-thola. We Brits aren’t very good at pronouncing foreign words terribly well, but it’s what I’m going to call him, Ca-thola.
24th August 2012
User Comment and Reaction
User comments on this article are now closed. If you want to continue the debate, why not do so on the Gooner Forum.
MRMROD 13:18pm 24th Aug 2012
Agree 100% he is top top drawer and will be the darling...as for pronounciations its hard enough to get people to add an ING on the end of words never mind getting them to start saying Cathola. - Post No. 28243
Gooner Fan 13:42pm 24th Aug 2012
Cazorla is a talented player, no doubt about it. But it's too early to consider him Arsenal’s Messi when he just played one game for us. It will be quite a test for him when the thugs in the EPL, who like to "leave a mark" on players targets him and they definitely do that. Anyway, I hope he and the other players that arrived this summer will become outstanding signings for us. - Post No. 28245
maguiresbridge gooner 14:16pm 24th Aug 2012
I think arsene would be better off concentrating on our defensive weaknesses and the goalkeeper situation i think we have enough attacking firepower.I sure hope Cazorla is or turns out to be everything you have made him out to be. Equivalent to messi ? I think i'll wait a while to see if he lives up to those expectations before getting to exited starting with the hatchet men on sunday.Anyway if he is as good as you say or turns out to be we all know what will happen and where he'll end up. - Post No. 28246
Don 14:39pm 24th Aug 2012
Simon i would have loved to hear what you were saying after Glen Helders debut and after Chamakh scored 10 goals before christmas in 2010.Cazorla is a good player but dont even mention him in the planet as Messi.There is no one who comes even close to the great man.More AKB bull from a certain Mr Rose.What next Szczesny is the new Buffon Fat Boy Santos is better than Cashley,Gervinho is better than Pires and Diaby is Zidane.Cazorla will be like Cesc a great player surrounded by dross - Post No. 28248
Greenwich gooner 14:46pm 24th Aug 2012
Just hope Wenger continues to play St Cath in the no 10 playmaker role, despite his shirt no, and doesn't do to him what he's done to Arshavin...ask him to play wide. Still think we need another striker and not from ligue 1. France has produced some terrific players in recent years, but v few strikers. Hope Giroud bangs em in for fun, but we're 1 injury away from Park or Chamakh. Never been a better time financially - which should in theory interest AW and the Board - to cast an eye over la Liga for goal scoring possibilities. However apparently because we have Diaby, all will be well. - Post No. 28249
thatsimonrose 16:43pm 24th Aug 2012
Blimey Don, chin up! You're right though, Helder did have a great debut. - Post No. 28257
Son of a Gun 17:07pm 24th Aug 2012
I'm gonna call him "Caz" - Post No. 28260
Ramgun 17:09pm 24th Aug 2012
If you are going to wait for Gervinho to be on the same wavelength as Carzorla - Blimey, you are in for a long wait! - Post No. 28261
simon 22:38pm 24th Aug 2012
I'm with the writer. I remember the first time i saw Brady and Jack, you know instantly when you have the real deal in front of you and Caz is the real deal. More certain of himself than Cesc ever was, he's instantly looking for connections and frankly Theo and Diaby wasn't what was needed...Let's see him with jack and AOC then it could get scary. Biggest issue I have is the strikers, Wenger should have pushed the boat out for a Llorente or Cavanni rather than taking (yet again) the best France can offer... - Post No. 28265
Tony 22:53pm 24th Aug 2012
Agree about Cazorla, but given the way Jack's return (or lack thereof) has gone thus far, I don't see why Sahin wasn't brought in, at the very least, for insurance purposes. You can never have too many talented footballers, and by all accounts, he is just that. Bundesliga Player of the Year! I can't believe the lad is turning down Champions League football to play for Liverpool. I truly hope the reports that the gaffer didn't want to make a large outlay for a one year loan spell are untrue. He appears to be class. Oh, well. Here's to hoping Mr. Wenger has others in mind to augment the squad before the window shuts. - Post No. 28266
Wombledin 1:48am 25th Aug 2012
It's a sign of desperation for our long-suffering fans to have a hero to latch on to when you're absolutely creaming in your pants after seeing him play in one prem game and against a mediocre team that parked the bus and had only 30% possession. You could have written the same piece about Arshavin after his 4 goals against Liverpool. Yes we like what we've seen but let's give it a bit of time and see how our little Xavi goes against the top teams after a decent run of games before we get too carried away aye. - Post No. 28269
Fozzy's mate 8:12am 25th Aug 2012
Simon - as ever your optimism is admirable. However if fact had followed your pronouncements our trophy cabinet would be bulging every season. I am sure Santi will prove a good acquisition but as any new signing would will take time to gel with new team mates. I remember Bergkamps first season well and at times he was on a different wavelength to his less visionary team mates. My worry is our apparent willingness to sell our best players every year. Whilst not a huge fan of Song I think it a shame to have spent 6 years waiting for him to become a decent performer and then sell him on to add to the cash stockpile. I think the 3 players bought in are decent acquisitions but we needed to add them on top of RVP and Song. Our problem is we are never working from a solid base and every year replacements for our best few players need months to bed in. I think we are a bit short in defensive areas but may have enough for 4th place. I think the DDT will be happy as he hasn't spent last summers transfer profits due to the sales of RVP and Song paying for the new players and the outgoings of Bentdner and co will show another tidy profit. - Post No. 28271
chris dee 11:14am 25th Aug 2012
Carzola is not a great player and is nowhere near being a great player. He will only become a great player if Arsenal win trophies with him in the side. At the moment Perry Groves,Martin Hayes,Stephen Morrow ,Andy Linaghan,Chris Wreh,Kevin Richardson,Igor Stepanovs,Oleg Luzhny among others are far greater players than Carloza because they have helped the club win trophies despite not being able to lace Carloza'a boots in terms of talent. So let's wait a little longer in praising him to the heavens after one game at the Emirates against Sunderland. - Post No. 28272
Joe S. 11:54am 25th Aug 2012
Simon Rose frothing at the mouth over our three new aquisitipns and after a lame draw at that. Carzola is the best of the three but the guy is 27 years old, has been around La Liga for a while and has skipped the rada of Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Now we are expecting him to single handedly set Arsenal alight.With everything that's gone on, I can't agree. This season is a case of one step forward and three steps back. The best players do not want to play for Wegner: the money's not there, they don't trust him and they believe the club is only focused on balance sheets. Whatever nonsense you come up with about good riddance to this or that player because they didn't want to play for a lost cause is only chidish wishful thinking. - Post No. 28273
GoonerGoal! 13:27pm 25th Aug 2012
Come on, did you really believe Nuri Sahin was going to join Skinflint FC once another equal status club showed interest, especially after the Vertonghen episode? In time, Santi Cazorla may prove to be the player we hope he will become. However, my fear is that with one or two exceptions, he may end up feeling like a pearl caste before swine, and after a couple of seasons, the lure of being a winner at a proper football club will once again prove too great. But hey, I’m sure we’ll make a nice profit on the deal, and after all isn’t that what Arsenal FC is all about these days? - Post No. 28275
Wenger Out 13:41pm 25th Aug 2012
Well said @Joe S. More nonsense from Rose and more wishful thinking from the AKB's. Our Club is in serious decline because of four factors 1. A board with zero ambition (and that is incompetent since Dein left). 2. A manager that is well past his sell by date and should have been ousted 6 years ago. 3. Second rate, molly coddled players that Wenger pumps up to believe that they are better than they are. 4. People like Simon Rose (pronounced ‘self-satisfied’) who refer to “Ca-zorla” (thanks for the pronunciation lesson Mr Patronising) as Arsenal’s Messi (is that Mess-ee Simon?) after one game against Sunderland who we couldn't even beat. The problem with the author of this piece is that he thinks he is some sort of superior authority on the game compared with the rest of us.Get Wenger out! - Post No. 28276
Highbury Boy 16:15pm 25th Aug 2012
Why did Arsenal continue negotiations over Sahin way after the signing of Cazorla and after the sale of Song only for Wenger to now claim (after they lost out to Liverpool) that with 9 midfielders for 3 spots he wasn't wanted. Bit disingenuous if you ask me. Wilshere,Frimpong and Rosicky are all injured and no-one knows when or if they will return to anything like their top form. Ramsey has never recovered from his injury. Coquelin has promise but is untried. We all know Diaby's injury record. In fact a one year loan could have been ideal as it would not have "killed" Coquelin or Frimpong and given Wilshere time to recover. It seems that Liverpool offered more. Just no ambition. - Post No. 28278
the_drizzle 8:07am 26th Aug 2012
Bravo for Wenger on not signing Sahin. This deal was nothing more than Real trying to strongarm us because they had a desperate, washed-up team waiting in the wings. A lot of fans are calling this a "lack of ambition," but look at all of Liverpool's #ambition and where it got them last year. And besides, our talks with Madrid got held up because we aggressively tried to sign Sahin on a permanent deal, not just develop him for a year on Real's behalf. If Liverpool want to retain Sahin next season, they will have to grossly overpay for his services (but thats just another way of saying they might need to show "too much ambition"). @Goonergoal defines a "proper football club" as one with 700 million in debt that cant even pay its taxes (see Real and Barca), but is there nothing to be said for having pride and competitive spirit? For doing things the right way? I take a lot of pride in the way Arsenal conducts its football business and Im not going to fault Wenger for not bowing down to the bankrupt frauds at Madrid. - Post No. 28282
Elijah Archibong 9:32am 26th Aug 2012
I believe gunners will surely make us proud this season especially with carzola. - Post No. 28283
GoonerGoal! 22:47pm 27th Aug 2012
At this point, you might think I would want to thank the_dribble for explaining to you all my definition of a “proper football club”. There’s just one small problem with that, he has absolutely no idea what my definition of a "proper football club" would be. Instead, he places words in my mouth and, rather like the Kroenke/Gazidis/Wenger triumvirate; he hopes that you will take everything on face value without ever wishing to examine what it is actually being said. There is no doubt there is a difference in our mentalities. It seems he is one of the AKB mentality for whom “pride in the way Arsenal conducts its football business” substitutes for pride in what happens on the pitch and the winning of trophies. In which case, he must be deliriously happy having Arsenal conduct its “football business” by extracting increasing amounts of money from him to renew his season ticket every Summer, immediately prior to selling of its best players to our major rivals in England and Europe! When in truth, he and those like him are simply handing over money “for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises. All lies and jests. Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest…” - Post No. 28328
the_drizzle 4:43am 29th Aug 2012
@goonergoal I didnt exaggerate your position. If you are talking about Arsenal consistently retaining its top players and buying new talent, the ONLY way that gets done is by going significantly into the red (either through massive debt or having a billionaire owner write our checks). Dont kid yourself, Chelsea isnt a profitable club, its just that all their debt is owned to Roman Ambramovich. To engage in bidding wars with the likes of City and Barca, we would need to be ready to pay our top players over 200k a week, which requires debt. So dont act indignant when I state that as your position, because its the only conceivable option in the present market. If Im wrong about that, please explain. And you can fault Arsenal all you like, but given that the Spanish banks will eventually need to let the Liga giants default on their loans, at least the Gunners arent a parasite to England. They hold their own, and if you are a serious Arsenal fan, you may want to reconsider your perception of the club. - Post No. 28355
GoonerGoal! 23:23pm 29th Aug 2012
A final word @the_drizzle. So when Arsenal were a proper football club and buying the likes of Bergkamp, Viera and Petite without selling their top players, did Arsenal go significantly into the red? And later, when Arsenal bought Henry, Pires, and Ljungberg, again without selling their top players, did Arsenal go significantly into the red that season? No, and the club wasn’t earning in excess of £3million every home game then either, but then that was when Arsenal was a proper football club and not the new profit-driven “business model” so beloved by the likes of you. - Post No. 28455
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