The news that their star midfielder Santi Cazorla might miss the majority of the action this season due to an injury, has not gone down too well with the Gunners with many believing that the club’s chance of winning the Premier League title is as good as over.
The Spain international is set to go under the knife for an ankle injury that he sustained in Arsenal’s 6-0 Champions League win over Ludogorets in October. The mid-fielder has not played since then and is expected to remain on the sidelines for around three months. The club confirmed he would travel to Sweden next week for surgery.
The Gunners have clearly struggled to perform well in recent weeks without their inspirational mid-fielder. After making a fine start to the season, Arsene Wenger’s men are now languishing fourth in the table, three points shy of table-topper Chelsea and are in danger of finishing second in their Champions League group. Out of the six games that the North London outfit have played without Cazorla, they have dropped points in four matches.
Arsene Wenger also admitted his team is finding it tough to play well without the Spaniard. Before the game against Bournemouth last week, he had said:“Santi is important to our technical stability in the team, to the quality of our decision-making and to our build-up from deep midfield to the high midfield. That is an important stage because it gets the ball out from the defenders. Santi is a massive player for us.”
As expected, the news has hit the Arsenal fans hard and they took to Twitter to vent their frustration.
so cazorla is out for 3 months, well that means another trophy less year #arsenal
— Tajwar 2.0 (@ATajwar92) December 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/callumbanwait95/status/804370463917047808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/BigPun__/status/804343175087321088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
season over. Groundhog Day with this bloody club I swear
— Leon C (@MiracleManMusic) December 1, 2016
Cazorla needs surgery. Best news Jack Wilshere has heard since signing his first pro contract at Arsenal.
— M (@the_misirlou) December 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/ARSENALDvbrisG/status/804369047936700416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Santi Cazorla (my favorite Arsenal player) is finished, plastic, glass. Injuries ?
— zifebe zimnakile (@Mgqumeni_) December 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/mimi_afc/status/804358802044809220?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Cazorla news has put me in a right awful mood.
— BS (@BS___91) December 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/WengerTactic/status/804395370256142336
https://twitter.com/goonerclaude/status/804468113869864960
Cazorla out for 3 months.. it's a disaster!
Lacking creativity in midfield… & the player who could give us it is down at Bournemouth.#AFC— Carl Bovis ⚽ (@CarlBovis_AFC) December 1, 2016
Unsure as to why its taken a month for our world class medical staff to make a solid diagnosis for Cazorla…not the first time.
— The Arsenal (@DareToWenger) December 1, 2016