It's been a tough season for Santi Cazorla, who has been one of Arsenal's most disappointing players, but he's come to life at the time his team needs him most.
Santi Cazorla’s rebirth could be massive for Arsenal
It’s going to be a long December for Arsenal without Mesut Özil and Jack Wilshere. That is, unless Santi Cazorla is finally back to his best form.
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With Mesut Özil out injured, the Gunners have been entirely dependent on Alexis Sánchez to both create and score. They’ve struggled in games where Sánchez wasn’t great, and in their best wins, he’s been involved in all of their goals.
Arsenal’s complete dependence on Sánchez isn’t all Cazorla’s fault, but his poor play certainly makes things hard. With Özil out, they needed him to step up, and for a couple of months, he wasn’t up to it. Cazorla hasn’t scored in the Premier League or Champions League, and up until Wednesday, he had just one assist between those two competitions.
The last two games have been a different story. Cazorla was arguably the man of the match against Borussia Dortmund, setting up two goals, and again assisting the winner for Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion. In both games, his contributions have stretched far beyond those assists as well, as he's shown better off-the-ball movement and quick decision-making on the ball.
Özil is still out through the new year, while Jack Wilshere is going to sit out until 2015 as well, so Cazorla's rebirth could be huge for Arsenal. They can't expect Sanchez to do everything and stay within reasonable striking distance of the top four. If the Chilean is the only in-form creative player in the Arsenal squad, there's a good chance that Manchester United could open up a gap on the Gunners while Southampton maintain their league position.
Sanchez was pretty anonymous on Saturday, but Arsenal notched an away win against a decent opponent anyway. The only other time they did that was against Aston Villa, when Özil was involved in two goals. If the best version of Cazorla is here to stay, Arsenal are going to be able to keep pace in the race for top four and tread water until Wilshere and Özil get fit.
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