Match Reaction vs Cardiff (away).

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I thought Cazorla in particular last night was just playing too deep. I know they like to keep close in midfield so they can play quick short balls to each other, but sometimes it gets to overkill. A player as talented and as two footed as Cazorla is, you really want to be in the oppositions third a lot more.

[AFC Leveller]

Agreed Blink.

He's been below par this season, esp in the last few games. has given the ball away too often (to be fair to him he has tried to track back and win it) and hasnt assisted or attempted a shot at all. His shooting is very good with either foot so im surprised he's been shot shy of late.

[Syn]

We can't have everyone in the opposition's 1/3. He could probably do without getting clattered further up the pitch every minute just as he's coming back from injury. Will take him a few games but he should be happy to play a secondary role while Ramsey and Ozil want the ball near the goal.

[Munchies]

[Syn]

Why had everyone played 2-3 games more by that stage? 21 points from 15 games is really bad. No wonder we were crying about it all day.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I'm not overly concerned but there are opportune times when we either have everybody in the oppositions goal area or nobody/just Giroud. I just thought that last night he was coming deep and staying there too often to be a threat, when it wasn't necessary. At least when we had the ball anyway.

Usually he will start from deep and advance his and the teams position with a few one-two's but yesterday he stopped short on a number of occasions... or his execution was uncharacteristically off.

Of all the players we have, Cazorla is the one guy with the unique and deadly skill set which makes him particularly threatening in those key areas. Even more so than Ozil. He has the close ball control of Ozil but has the shooting technique equal to or above any other player we have.

As I said I'm not overly concerned yet but knowing how well he can play, it doesn't go unnoticed with him. A little like with Ozil in a way. When Ozil plays below the level we know he can it is quite readily noted because of his reputation, price tag and the fact he has just joined us.

[Penguin]

Yeah I agree with that. This isn't a kneejerk to his poor performance against Cardiff, it's a general observation on his performances and decision making on the pitch. I haven't been too impressed with Cazorla on the left. He had a much bigger impact for us as a number 10 last season, popping shots off left, right and centre. I know he's coming back from injury but he's had over a month back in the side. He doesn't get involved enough in the final third, and he tends to drop back too far after making a pass to Giroud, or to Gibbs on the left. He should be pushing further on and making some combos with Gibbs down that left wing ala Pires & Cole, but we hardly see any of that.

He does do well when he moves infield but its the same old problem for Wenger's teams recently - we play too narrow and in front of the opponents making it us more predictable. We're making it harder than it should be.

[JonasTC]

We have to remember, Ramsey and Giroud starting to score more goals doesnt mean that we'll be scoring 20+ more goals than last season, those goals are being taken from players like podolski, walcott and cazorla. We cant compare their stats with last year, if Cazorla drops deep means that Ramsey can get into the box and score, im perfectly fine with Cazorla not getting those same stats, i still think he's awesome and an important part of our possesion football. Who knows, maybe its Wenger telling our CAM's-played-on-the-wings to drop down (not at the same time tho'), so Özil can go wide and let Ramsey run through the middle.

[Penguin]

It's not just about the goals (he's already scored and hit the post a few times) it's the level of performance. Cazorla has been ineffective and well below the standards we've come to expect. If it's a planned tactic by Wenger he's intentionally making us even more narrow. I don't think that's a good thing...

[JonasTC]

I would say its worked out pretty well for us