Is Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla suffering from second-season syndrome?

Santi Cazorla

This season has shown a marked improvement for many of Arsenal’s players, with the notable one being Aaron Ramsey. However, since returning from injury, the form of Santi Cazorla has provided some concern. The Spaniard is yet to reach the heights of last season where he was Arsenal’s best performer and most influential player.

The quality is obviously there; Cazorla shows that with his clever touches and clear understanding of the game. It’s not even that he is playing that badly; it’s more the fact that everyone knows he can play much better than what he has shown so far this season. Not only in terms of goals and assists, but all-round play. Frustration is creeping into the calm midfielder’s game, and Arsenal’s best player from last season may not even make the best eleven, on current form. The clubs top scorer and top assister from last season, Theo Walcott, is fit again, and came off the bench to assist another Arsenal’s only goal this weekend.

While Walcott is sometimes more frustrating, he currently provides a more productive option for Wenger. Arsenal’s number 14 is different to the rest of the Arsenal midfielders, providing pace which stretches opponents. Cazorla is extremely talented, but when he and Wilshere are the Arsenal wingers, there is a clear lack of penetration and pace on the flanks. The centre of the field gets congested and the team becomes heavily reliant on the full backs to create the width. This can lead to the stronger teams in the league being able to shut out Arsenal with relative ease, as shown against Manchester United and Everton more recently.

Cazorla struggled against Everton, completing just 77% of his passes and completing just one out of three attempted take-ons. He attempted just one cross, which was unsuccessful. These unconvincing statistics stretch further than just that game, with just one goal and one assist in eleven games for an on form Arsenal side. He scored 12 league goals and assisted eleven last season, and was frequently involved in Arsenal’s goals. His average pass accuracy is also down 2% from last year.

Is it down to his position change? Whilst he spent some of his time on the wing last season, the Spaniard has been permanently shifted out wide and shunted out of the limelight following Mesut Ozil’s record-breaking arrival. Many Arsenal fans feel Cazorla is better suited to a central role, but it is a position many Arsenal players desire. Whilst Ozil is fit, Cazorla’s chances in that role are going to be limited and he is going to have to start finding his form out-wide to keep his place in the Arsenal line-up. It could be argued that playing both Cazorla and Walcott would help improve his form, as Arsenal did at the end of last season. At the moment Giroud is the only outlet for the Gunners midfield, playing Walcott on the right gives players like Cazorla more options going forward.

There is no doubt Arsenal’s number 19 will find form once again, but this is a worrying spell for him. With it being a World Cup year, and Spain having a wide array of quality midfielders to choose from, Cazorla will need to regain last season’s spectacular form in order to be sure of a World Cup place.