The boss has delivered a further update on Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla’s injury casting doubts on his return this season, as per ESPN.
Arsene Wenger has revealed that Santi has undergone another medical procedure in a bid to cure his troublesome Achilles following a setback in recovery last week.
The 32-year-old Spanish Maestro has been a huge miss since suffering problem after a kick to his Achilles during a Champions League win over Ludogorets in October.
He has featured in only 11 games and was a crucial cog in the team during the initial months of the season before his intermittent Achilles problem forced him to withdraw from the squad.
Having undergone a surgery on his planters tendon back in December he was expected to be back by February initially but now Wenger seems to have ruled him out till March possibly April too saying:
“Santi is far from starting to run again.
“He had a little procedure and we have a meeting with the medical people today to see what it was really. Certainly he will not be available in the next six weeks that is for sure.
“I hope he will be back this season because once you are out, you have to count six weeks preparation to get back. At the moment he is not at that level.
“Let’s hope he can come back in the next three or four weeks on the pitch.”
With what might come as a colossal blow for the club and for him as well, having him out of the team for the next two months will prove to be a huge void to fill for the other members of the squad specially at a time when the fiercest title race in years seems to be heading towards its zenith.
When a usually ever optimistic Arsene seems to be fearful about his season it might indeed be a surprise if the Spaniard is able to play more than a month in the remainder of the season. On a personal note, Santi is irreplaceable and is nothing short of a magician when he is at his twinkle-toed best serving as a fulcrum for both attack and defense. His loss till Feb is hard to fathom as it is and further absence might even cost us the title this year.
Let’s hope it is not as serious as it sounds and we get to have our diminutive magician back derailing Chelsea’s march to glory as soon as we can.
Meanwhile in the major extract from his interview, Arsene has gone on to describe how he feels that Ozil can take his game up to another level as there is “no limitation” to what he can achieve on the field.
Even though Ozil is currently enjoying his highest ever goalscoring ratio this term, Wenger feels there is still more for him left to achieve and wants him to embellish his game by scoring, even more, goals in the second half of the season.
Here’s what he had to say about his expectations from Ozil:
“I think what you want of him is to score goals,” the Arsenal manager said. “He is moving in the right way but always, from such a talent, you are maybe a little bit unjust because you always want more.
“You feel there is no limitation in his game and so you always say, ‘Come on, give us more’ because you always have feeling he can do more.
“We are all human beings who can improve every day. I think he has a passion for the game, you do not get the technique he has just by the gift of God, you have to focus on every single pass you have made since you were a kid to get that touch, technique and vision.
“For that you need a passion for the game and he has exceptional passion. He gives you always the feeling that he can make the team improve with the quality of his passes.”
Certainly justified in his views it would be wonderful if he could add more flair to his game by scoring at will and with his “ice cold” finishing nature that he keeps showing in training.
One who traditionally prefers to slice open defenses with his instinctive passing rather than aiming for the back of the net, it has been an absolute pleasure watching him win games with his masterful goals and cutting edge finishing. If an increase of the same is desired by the manager surely there’s no harm done.
Here’s to hoping for more of the same from him and a speedy recovery for our Santi.
Cheers !
