Arsene Wenger has acknowledged the absence of midfielder Santi Cazorla has contributed to Arsenal losing “fluency” amid a run of three straight draws.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 18 matches in all competitions, but their results in November thus far mean they have slipped three points behind leaders Chelsea in the Premier League and they now look likely to finish second in their Champions League group following Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners are aiming to get back to winning ways on Sunday when they host Bournemouth on Sunday. Cazorla, who has been out injured for each of Arsenal’s three draws, remains out this weekend, and Wenger acknowledged that the Spain international’s absence has been telling.
“He’s 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,” Wenger said. “That’s an important stage because it gets the ball out from the defenders.
“We have enough quality players in our side to get around that, even if Santi is a massive player for us. We are good enough to find solutions despite the fact he’s not there.”
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is currently on a season-long loan at Bournemouth, and will have to sit out Sunday’s match between the two sides at the Emirates as he cannot play against his parent club, but he has already made eight league starts for the Cherries and played the full 90 minutes in the last four.
Wenger may well wish he had 24-year-old available for his own side this weekend, having seen his team struggle to find the right balance in central midfield without Cazorla. The Frenchman has tried different combinations of Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey in his two central positions, but without finding an effective partnership.
“I believe we have to find our game back,” Wenger said. “We didn’t lose but if you do not create, that will not last. It’s important that we find our simplicity, speed and pacey combinations back. We missed that fluency, that security in our decision making that made us dangerous in the final third a little bit. That is what is at stake for us.”
So far, though, Wenger doesn’t seem to fully trust new signing Xhaka, who was on the bench for the games against Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain. That’s despite spending £30 million on the Switzerland international in the summer, but Wenger said he’s confident Xhaka will eventually play a bigger role.
“I’m very happy with his commitment. I think he’s developing well,” he said. “He hasn’t maybe started enough since the start of the season but he is adapting to a different league, a different way of playing. Overall I’m happy because every day he’s focused on working hard and I’m confident he’ll get his number of games.”
Cazorla and Hector Bellerin remain sidelined, but Wenger said striker Lucas Perez returned to training on Friday and could make his return from an ankle injury as soon as Wednesday’s EFL Cup game against Southampton.
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