The ridiculous amount of talent at Arsene Wenger’s disposal surely provides him a lot of headaches when it comes to selecting his starting XI and this headache would keep on growing as more of his players keep on improving their form. Arsenal have been helped by the return of Mesut Ozil but also thanks to the sheer outstanding return of form for Santi Cazorla, not to mention the hit the ground running Alexis Sanchez who has lit up the Premier League and looks like one of the purchases of the season thanks to not only his goals but overall contribution to the side.
With so many attackers coming into form, there is a problem in fitting in everyone and with many midfielders not having the best of times at Arsenal; it could be time to rejig the team to accommodate the players who are in form.
Cazorla in midfield? Not as crazy as it sounds
Now before we insinuate anything we need to get one thing clear, Santi Cazorla has been an exceptional player in the second half of the season but their midfield, especially central midfield has been rather poor apart from Francis Coquelin, who has been the only other bright spot in midfield. Santi Cazorla playing in the middle with Coquelin could actually work for the Gunners.
Cazorla has not only the ability to run with the ball but to create chances as well, this would obviously only work if he had a defensive midfielder alongside him willing to tackle and harry the opposition and for this formation to work, he would need to play with Flamini or Coquelin. Cazorla also has the vision and passing ability to spray balls long and link up with the attack, so he would not be out of place while playing in this position, plus his legs aren’t the same as they were a few seasons back and it would lengthen his career.
Another bonus from this formation could free up Mesut Ozil and he could play as the number 10, right behind the striker Olivier Giroud, this would be the ideal position for Ozil, he can’t really play in the wings as he has a tendency to drift infield, so playing him down the centre could maximise his potential and gameplay. This would however mean that another player would have to be shifted and that is Alexis Sanchez, the attacker would probably have to be shifted to either wing to accommodate Ozil playing down the middle.
Sanchez though would not have a problem playing down the wings as he has had experience doing that at Barcelona and has done it a few times during his spell at Udinese. Playing Cazorla in the midfield might make it seem a little lightweight but the potential to play all their best attacking players in the same XI is too good a chance to let go.