Santi Cazorla spoke recently of his desire to avoid any comparison with Cesc Fabregas. And although it’s incredibly easy to talk about both players in the same favourable sentence for obvious reasons, why would any Arsenal fan want to “replace” Fabregas’ status and performances at the club with another?
Taking a hostile stance towards Fabregas is easy now; no on really wants to remember him as the player who seemingly forced his way out of the club and into a Barcelona shirt. But with everything he’s done at Arsenal, it simply wouldn’t be appropriate to label him as some kind of traitor. There are many who look at Patrick Vieira as just another player who once wore the red of Arsenal, and at times it’s understandable with his current position at Manchester City. But on the other hand, there are many more who continue to support the idea that Vieira was and still is a legend for the club.
Santi Cazorla was exactly what Arsenal needed following Fabregas’ departure. In fact, which team would say no to a player of Cazorla’s quality? He provides that same level of creative cutting edge in the attacking half. He plays the same brand of Spanish football that has and should rightly be praised throughout the world. He’s a player who’s part of this dominant Spanish team and has more than enough international caps to be relevant in any argument. But above all, he’ll never confess any desire to return “home” to Catalonia.
He’s an Arsenal player and he plays that high quality brand of football that many want to see at the club. Cazorla’s a player who fits right in with the recent technical masters who played for Arsene Wenger, and there’s still plenty of time for him to tear through the Tottenham defence and score a goal within seconds of the restart.
The point is, it really shouldn’t be something that draws any great comparisons, besides the fact they’re both Spanish creative midfielders. Cazorla and Fabregas’ natural games are not all that similar, and Fabregas has notably struggled with the change of role at Barcelona. The former Arsenal captain is far better suited to a deep-lying role, a position he took up for much of his early days at Arsenal.
Cazorla, on the other hand, is naturally suited to playing high up the pitch. Yes, Arsene Wenger did use Fabregas as the most advanced of his three central midfielders in recent years, but that was a design to get the player scoring more goals. Both players pull the strings but from different areas of the pitch.
Another important point is that it’s simply too early to make any logical conclusion over which of the two is better suited to Arsenal. Players like Mikel Arteta, Lukas Podolski, Eduardo and even Andre Santos have been very warmly welcomed by Arsenal fans and many still hold the Croatian striker in high regard. It tells you a lot about the way Arsenal fans view their own and how quickly the status of a player can rise by giving something back. Cazorla also falls comfortably into this category and is sure to waltz his way into the legend books alongside players like his former Villarreal team mate Robert Pires.
Despite his size, Cazorla doesn’t appear to be too shaken by the physicality of the Premier League, however Cesc also battled quite well during his time in England. The thing about Fabregas is that he was a once in a lifetime player for Arsenal, although Jack Wilshere may be close behind. Fabregas came into the Arsenal midfield and ran the show as a teenager. How much confidence would the player have had, let alone the manager, to take over the reins following Vieira’s move to Juventus? It’s always worth referencing games such as against Real Madrid in the Champions League, the goal against AC Milan at the San Siro and that two goal performance against Aston Villa at the Emirates.
Fabregas was a special player who should stand alone and away from comparisons to others, despite the manner of his departure. Equally, Cazorla is a magician who is good enough to carry on the fantastic work of Fabregas and carve out his own name with Arsenal. He’ll do much more than that if he can guide Arsenal to some silverware.
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