11 Jan 2017 13:03:26
So with our season not going quite the way we all hoped and the attention being drawn to the rather bleak situation regarding the contracts of Ozil and Alexis I thought I'd bring you further misery in the form of: How in the hell do you replace Santi Cazorla?
An article from the 1st December showed our win rate with Cazorla is 65% and without him is just 39%!
So with that in mind who is capable of replacing someone as good as Santi?
The common names I see pop up are Thiago, Pjanic, Verratti, Saul, Kroos and Isco. Those all seem unrealistic for whatever reason.
Anyone have an opinion on any more realistic options?
Only 4 I can think of (and I have no idea if they're realistic or not) are Jorginho from Napoli, Manu Trigueros from Villarreal, Daniele Baselli from Torino and Geis from Schalke.
11 Jan 2017 15:08:53
Vidal would be immense but hey that will be add it to the unrealistic list
11 Jan 2017 14:26:31
Ed025 from Merseyside 😃
Payet for me.
{Ed025's Note - the payet without the attitude is great dags..
11 Jan 2017 17:40:45
Can I throw payet in there as a reasonable possibility. The rest are mostly none starters suggested, not because they aren't good but they aren't likely to come for the money required.
11 Jan 2017 20:48:50
Payet is great but I don't think he is the best replacement in santi's possition, not that I'm saying I wouldn't like seeing him at arsenal its just the possition. But thiago of Bayern would be great.
11 Jan 2017 20:50:52
Oh how about gotze?
11 Jan 2017 21:29:42
Gotze has never quite lived up to his reputation. I like matuidi from psg but he would be expensive, he's a central mid and psg keep playing him on the wing.
12 Jan 2017 09:03:21
Jack Wilshere.?
12 Jan 2017 09:56:28
Wilshere should have had a release clause in his loan deal. I agree that Payet would be a good replacement too, although at 29 and a high transfer fee and contract, I'm not too sure. I can't fathom out why Ramsey can't play in that role alongside Xhaka or Coquelin? I liked Elneny alongside Xhaka, as he makes more vertical runs, whereas Xhaka and Coquelin tend to use the ball from deep positions, opposed making driving runs which unsettle opponents.
12 Jan 2017 13:46:38
I think the main ingredient for santi replacement is player with great dribbling skills. Sometimes going passed that one player in the midfield can make the attack a lot more dangerous
14 Jan 2017 11:08:46
No-one does it quite like Santi because he's so skillful at drawing opposing players in while they attempt to win the ball, and then darting round them, meaning he creates so much space in the centre of the park. Ozil thrives on that space and Santi combines brilliantly with Coquelin because Coquelin just has to win the balls and play a simple pass to Santi to get things going from deep. The only players we have who've been able to do what Santi does in that position with regular impact are Wilshere on his day and Rosicky. Ramsey lacks that ability on the ball and is better at charging, meaning he makes surging runs forward that draw him out of the defensive, deep lying position. Hell, Ozil would probably do a better job of creating space from deep, but unfortunately he'd get clattered too much in the process.