So the word is three months for Santi Cazorla. At least. Three months with fears that it could be longer. The way this news is being drip-fed to us makes me suspect that it might indeed be worse than three months.
Clearly Cazorla’s knee was so used to being supported by our Coq that without it, it just couldn’t cope any more and gave way. That means our first choice central midfield pairing is out until well into the new year, and for any team that would be a massive blow. If it is worse than three months, then Santi runs the risk of not making the European Championships next summer, and the effects from an Arsenal point of view go without saying.
First off, it’s hard not to feel sad for him. I’ve seen people try and shake it off as if it’s not a big deal because his form hasn’t been great in the last few games, but that’s pretty short-sighted. This is a man who has played 168 games for us since he joined in the summer of 2012. His quality is obvious even if the move to a deeper-lying midfield position has seen the goals dry up, and the idea that any injury that adds to our extensive list isn’t a big problem just doesn’t make any sense to me at all.
That said, there is a very obvious replacement in the squad. Someone who has been asked to a different job in recent times and who has spoken more than once about how he wants to play as a central midfielder again. So, step up Aaron Ramsey, this is your time.
Last week the manager spoke about him used as a replacement for Francis Coquelin, and ruled that out, saying:
Ramsey is more an offensive player, he is not a tactical, defensive player. I will use him there when the game demands but is he naturally, with Cazorla, a balanced pair? Defensively, certainly, it’s a very adventurous one!
It’s hard to argue with that really, but the sands have shifted here. He’s no longer going to play with Cazorla, but instead of him. He’s going to have to do a job alongside either Mathieu Flamini or Mikel Arteta, and in some ways that might suit the team more than Cazorla being asked to play with either of those two.
What will be important is for Ramsey to slightly curb his desire to get forward as much as he likes because without Coquelin we’re less secure in that holding position. There’s no question about that, so to offset some of that disruption we’ll need him to do the kind of job I’ve mentioned before when he dovetailed so nicely with Arteta. He can tackle, he can run all day, he’s decent in the air, and when he uses the ball simply he’s very effective in there.
He’s also going to have to balance that with building a relationship with Mesut Ozil who will be playing further ahead of him in the midfield. The German’s form has been sensational, but if you go through the stats you’ll see that the player the passes to him most often is Cazorla. Game after game that is the combo that keeps us ticking, so there’s responsibility on him there too.
However, while I’m sure he doesn’t want to see a teammate injured for any period of time, he definitely wants this chance to play in his preferred position and he’s going to get it. There’s now a huge onus on him to perform and to stay fit, because we’re pretty much down to bare bones in there right now. We have Ramsey and Flamini, with Oxlade-Chamberlain a possible if it comes down to it.
So, while I think this might well provide Ramsey with the kind of opportunity to make this position his own again, if the club aren’t now making serious plans for January then they’re making life even more difficult for themselves. I know we have players coming back from injury and what I wouldn’t give for a fit Jack Wilshere right now.
But as much as I think he could be a fantastic player for us, counting on him to remain fit is hugely optimistic. His record is such that banking on him to fill the gap between January and May would be a massive gamble. Mikel Arteta too, as much as I think he’s been a very important player for us, hasn’t been able to stay fit for any consistent period for about 16 months now, and again that’s a gamble. That calf can sadly pop any time.
What kind of signing we can make in January remains to be seen. I’d be surprised if there was anyone out there we could spend big money on, but you can be sure there’s somebody who could come in and improve the options we currently have in midfield, even if that’s somebody on loan. Maybe not a Kim Kallstrom eh? Not so much with regard to the quality of the player, but let’s not bring somebody in who arrives injured and can’t play for months.
Anyway, we still have six games to play before January, and the idea that we might actually buy somebody as soon as the window opens is as fanciful as it gets, so we’re looking at a couple more games on top of that. Maybe Liverpool on January 13th is the target, bearing in mind we also have Chelsea later that month too.
For now, we have no choice but to look at ‘internal solutions’, but there’s a great big external world out there that can help too, and we really have no other option than to get out there and start looking now.
Right, that’s it from me for today. Tim Stillman will be here with his weekly column later, I’m back tomorrow with an Arsecast and all the rest. Until then, have an injury-free one.
