Magnetism... Like Poles Repel

When Jack Wilshere returned to full fitness most gunners were extremely excited at the prospect of him teaming up with Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta to form what is possibly the best midfield in the English premier league.

Jack's skills were evident from the start of his return despite the lengthy lay-off. His vision, fine touch, drive and most importantly his winner's attitude was clearly seen.

Santi Cazorla's performance on the other hand seemed to plummet. He seemed lost from the games and out of touch. Infact, he seemed lethargic with most people asking that he takes a break. He did indeed seem tired and out of form.

Wilshere then got injured and has not featured in the last two Arsenal matches. Cazorla's performance has gone back to normal. Those creative passes, the long range efforts, the holding on to the ball and the change of pace from the brilliant midfielder. He was key in the away wins against Bayern Munich and Swansea. Is this a coincidence? I think not.

Cazorla and Wilshere are both controlling forces in the midfield. Their presence is felt and seen. Before Wilshere's return, Cazorla pulled the strings in the midfield and thus had many assists and goals. On Wilshere's return, his performance went down. Wilshere seems to have overtaken him in that area with most balls to the midfield going via Young Jack. This made Cazorla seem redundant.

Unlike Arteta, whose influence on the game is hardly noticed, both Jack and Santi are dominant. If one is up, the other is down. Wilshere being the favourite of most gunners is almost always up which means Cazorla's performance is down.

This is a bad thing for Arsenal since Wilshere isn't the goalscoring midfielder or one that will get many assists....yet. This means he'll get there but now Cazorla is more important when it comes to that. Cazorla is more creative and being ambidextrous means he can play the free-role. Wilshere is great at driving forward and has great vision and distribution of the ball but sometimes that comes too late and possession is lost.

Like two North poles or two South poles on a magnet... They repel. Maybe squad rotation will help the team. Play them in different midfield sets... Santi Cazorla, Arteta and Ramsey.... Wilshere, Diaby (or a new signing) and Rosicky for example might work and be very beneficial to the teams and players individually as it allows them to grow.

Hopefully, they can strike a balance and learn to work together as that would be potent.


Till next time,
Fridah Kariuki