Little Spaniard getting over-used; Rozza be fit, Arsenal needs you

Arsenal bought Spaniard and Malaga midfielder Santi Cazorla for around 15 million pounds in the Summer Transfer window of 2012. It was clearly a must for them to get Cazorla since Yossi Benayoun’s loan period was over and Arshavin wasn’t getting much playing time at the club. He is totally worthy of the amount Arsenal paid Malaga, but in the last few matches he has been poor. Inconsistency won’t be the right word here, “overused” would be. From the time Arsenal have bought him, he has been there in almost every Arsenal game. It’s natural he will suffer from fatigue. Scoring and assisting Podolski’s goal against Liverpool, he was well off target. Not to forget his performance against Reading, which was brilliant. 3rd Spaniard in EPL to score a hat-trick. Since then, he has been disappearing.

The reason is simple. Very less competition for the CAM (Central Attacking Midfielder, the role behind the striker)

These are the CAM’s in the Arsenal Squad right now: Andrei Arshavin, Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere (Can play as CAM) and Santi Cazorla.

Rosicky is still injured, Jack however has returned back from injury but he is usually played as a box-to-box midfielder, though he can move ahead as an AM (Attacking Midfielder), Aaron Ramsey either gets played on the wings or as a box-to-box midfielder. If he is lucky, he will be played as CAM.

The matter of concern is there is no competition for the CAM role. Oxlade Chamberlain can be played as CAM but he is preferred on the wings.

There are 2 options for Wenger for this:

A) Keep rotating Santi-Wilshere in CAM Role

Use Coquelin as DMF beside Arteta/Diaby, or keep Diaby in rotation with Coquelin alongwith Arteta, and after Tomas Rosicky retains full fitness, play Wilshere as a box-to-box midfielder, and Rosicky-Cazorla in rotation for the Centre Attacking Midfielder role.

B) Get a new CAM. Since this is the transfer window, spend money to buy a quality Central Attacking Midfielder. For example: Mario Gotze, Marco Reus, etc to name a few. Play the new CAM in rotation with Santi Cazorla or use Santi as a winger and play the new CAM, keeping Santi in rotation with a winger.

I would prefer the first option. Rosicky is one hell of a player on his day. We saw his performance vs Tottenham and AC Milan.But his fitness issues are certainly a problem for the club. Cazorla getting rotated with Rosicky and Wilshere getting played as CAM will solve this problem, but it can only happen when Rosicky’s fully fit. Though buying someone like Mario Gotze or Reus won’t be bad either, I think Wenger will keep faith in Tomas Rosicky.