Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp firmly believes Arsenal’s new Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla is the signing of the summer, and claims he can be as good as Cesc Fabregas was for The Gunners. Very bold words from ‘Arry who also admitted he wanted to sign the 27-year-old while he was in charge of the Spuds.
‘Cazorla is a superb footballer and I think Arsenal have got a real diamond. However much they got for Cesc Fabregas, £40 million or whatever it was, they have managed to replace him for less than half the money.
‘I am a huge fan of Cesc, but I honestly don’t think there is anything between the two of them. They’re both top Spanish internationals – and Cazorla will be a truly great signing for the Gunners. Probably the best one any side made this summer, in my opinion.’
It is really frustrating to have to agree with something that Redknapp stated and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, but he is absolutely right.
I think Cazorla is just as good as Fabregas and we have only seen a glimpse of what he has to offer.
Take nothing away from what Cesc did for the club because he was a huge part of it, but Cazorla has just come in and put his mark on the club and has already one over the fans who recently awarded him Arsenal Player of the Month in September.
Arsenal reportedly got somewhere in the region of £40 million for Cesc Fabregas, which left many Gooners upset and dreading the worst. However, we have finally replaced him with a player who cost less and is of equal talent which in my books is great business by Arsene Wenger and the board.
It is still early days, but the feeling amongst the majority of the fans is we have found something special in Cazorla and despite the result against Chelsea we are still a force to be reckoned with.
Is Cazorla just as good as Cesc?
Give us your thoughts on the matter below
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I don’t really like the comparisons people do a lot of the time as they often resulft in slighting one player for the other. In truth, they’re both great players with slightly different attributes.
Cesc isn’t as quick as Santi and doesn’t dribble as well as Santi. But, that doesn’t make him any less of a player. Cesc gave us what we needed then and Santi gives us what we need now.
Santi is more versatile than Cesc in that Santi seems better to me in the final third, doesn’t need to be deep-lying like Cesc preferred, and Santi seems better at set pieces as well. Additionally, Cesc was limited to playing centrally for us whereas Santi is just as comfortable playing wide as he is playing central. All in all I don’t think we miss Cesc with Santi now in the fold.
It doesn’t mata if santi played only one game. Bt he has shown his quality which i thnk is beta dan fabregas. On isue of dfends i thnk arsenal’s gud dfnc so fa is atributd 2 d fact dat they play as a team. No body is lazy, unlike last seasn wen u’v lazy chaps like arshavin as statas. GOD wil help us dis seasn amen.
Hmm it’s tough to call as Santi is no doubt class and it’s his first season so I expect him to get better. However comapring their stats you’d have to say Cesc on paper is much better. Remember Fab lead the league in assists at one point and had double digit goals, bettering even Lampard one year for goals from midfield. Difference bwteen them I suppose is Cesc has time on his side being in his mid-10s while Santi cannot get significantly better than he already is as he’s getting closer to his 30s.
It’s hard to compare them right now as Cazolra has only had a handful of games at Arsenal. Next year we’ll have a better guage to revisit this question. However as much as I think Santi is a great player I’d much rather still have Cesc. Arteta sitting behind him, Wilshere running box to box and RVP putting them away would have been a thing to behold. Sadly, Arsenal’s cheap days has cost us such glory.