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
Like what you read? Then follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/UKVampire
Visit and Join our Facebook page, click HERE to do so.
Gunnersphere is currently looking for new writers to join the squad. Contact via twitter or at Gunnersphere@snack-media.com for further details.
Carzola to me is even better than Cesc! Reason >
He has speed and a terrific person running up and down the pitch in the areas of attacking play and defensively extremely capable of turning the game around.
AW must build the team around him.
He is the ‘helmsman and the co’g in the Arsenal mid-field!
With the persons in Arteta, and the now returning Wilshere and the ‘steadfast killing machine’ in Frimpong, the speed and eye-for-goal of The Ox, and Le Coq and now Gnabry what else is there or the need to add strength in the transfer market!
But Arsenal for reasons known need a lethal strike machine with mid-field qualitities to assist as and when needed to shore up the team in totality!
Well, do remember that Mr Redknapp grew up supporting Arsenal and I wouldn’t hate on the guy outright !
As for the article, I think Carzola is a massive asset for the club … an absolute steal at £15 – £17 million we paid for him. In terms of him being better than Cesc, that’s a tough one to call ? I think they have slightly different strengths, but both very creative in their own right. I think this kind of comparison is a bit of a mute point really. Better question to ask would of been ‘what did both players bring to the club and the team ? ‘ Answering this makes better sense that ‘who is better’.
Both brought creativity to the team and a great eye for passing and giving players excellent through balls … so, very similar in this respect. However, I feel that Carzola is a slightly better forward player than Cesc, but only marginally. So, overall, we can only be happy that we have his creativity here.
Harry is absolutely correct…
I think we have got d right man I as an Arsenal fan wanted Fab out bcos his mind was no longer with us but thank God we now have Cazola he plays like Fab but I thing I know is that he is faster dan Fab n dat is a plus to us. I luv his style of play and he has alot to deliver.gnners to d bone
great article.
I think he is stronger than fab on the ball and just as good with his vision, but only time will tell if he is as consistant as Fab. However:-
I hope Arsenal can improve on their defending to match their creative flair.
Unfortunately, Wenger is to blame for Arsenal loosing recently, because he cannot get his head around the concept of defensive tactics,
He was fortunate to inheret a defensive team trained by george graham for which he did improve with his technical coaching. But those defensive “pre-trained” players are long gone and he has no tactical play regarding defending.
Why are we left with one on one defending down our flanks. Instead of two or three covering the spaces in between. Gibbs is oftern left on his own to defend the left flank without one or two players behind him backing him up or crowding the space(like barcelona)!
Arsenal don’t defend as a team and are lazy in running back to defend. They will run so far then stop if they see some one else nearer to the ball.
Maybe it;s down to that not being their zone or maybe they are lazy. Either way it’s the manager who should be correcting the problem!
What’s his STATS compared to Fab?
Assists?
Shots on Target?
Milage covered?
Win Percentage?
Passes/completions?
Basicly is he as busy as Fab was in the middle of the park?
Santi is a complete midfeilder, a world class in my assesment and his capture by Arsenal is sort of a coup. Realistically speaking, Cesc and Santi are at par in my view but they both have their different dimension to the game. Aside the age difference, there is no much to talk about them, except that Cesc has the potential to score more goals than Santi. This is proberbly the area he has to work on. His ball distribution is second to non. However, Santi seem to be stronger in terms of strenght than Cesc. It would have been a beauty to watch them play together for Arsenal like they do for their national team. What do u think?
does it really matter…… he’s good. everyone knows that. so stop comparing and just enjoy his game
I think we should be careful not to throw praises at people like that. He is fine player who works hard and very down to earth as a person. As of his importance to the team lets judge him at the end of season. We had Cesc since he was 16 years. Stepping into the boots of Patrick Vieira was a massive undertaking for someone under 20. Things like that can make ones head too big. Maybe it did, Cesc is only human but still stuck to the job at hand and did it to his ability. Santi is a humble young man who can do business on the pitch but lets wait and see how this pans out.
Santi ma man better than Fab no doubting that.