Meeting Santi Cazorla

The saying goes that you should never meet your heroes.

Well yesterday @thelovelyreds had the chance to meet Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla at Puma’s Carnaby Street store and of course we weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to meet the club’s player of the season for last year.

Kept in London’s rush hour traffic Cazorla was late to arrive, however this gave TLR the chance to meet with some of the Puma staff, who had begun to enquire as to what the fuss was about. Despite their outward politness I’m sure by the time Santi arrived they were glad to have a break from my countless renditions and reenactments of some of the Arsenal player’s finer moments.

‘He has the ability unlike any other player to turn on a sixpence and is probably one of the most natural two-footed players in the league’ as I made a show of doing my finest Cruyff turn.

Once Santi did arrive, accompanied by his agent and young son, who Santi assured me always has a football at his feet, it was immediately obvious that he is a man unburdened by the ego so many footballer’s of his level possess.

With that charactersitic smile etched from ear to ear Santi approached those who were to meet him with a warm handshake and pat on the back, like he was greeting an old friend.

Humble to the point of shyness, Santi has the air of a man whose talent has taken him to places he can’t quite believe himself, and what a talent. Last year Santi was voted by fans around the world as Arsenal’s player of the season having scored 12 goals and making 14 assists in 38 league appearances.

His style is effortless, with Santi’s favoiurite move being the shape-to-shoot before the Spaniard makes a quick Cruyff turn, accelerating away in the opposite direction.

He is a player, like Wilshere and Rosicky who always looks to move the ball forwards, and despite his stature is capable of breaking through the first line of defence to put the opposing team on the back foot. In the final game of last season, Santi assisted all four goals against Wigan, utilisng his exceptional vision and passing accuracy.

Once the initial fuss had died down, Santi and TLR had the chance to talk about this season, some of our highlights and of course our recent loss in the Champions League. The disapointment at last Wednesday’s result was etched across Santi’s face, ‘It was tough, we were unlucky’ he said ‘When the goalie was sent off the game changed’ a sentiment shared by many. However there was also a resolve in his tone that suggests we could see a similar level of energy and pressing that gave us such a fantastic start to the fixture and characterised our storming victory at the Allianz last year.

We spoke about Özil and the tough treatment he has received in the media despite his statistics. ‘Özil is the most important for Arsenal’ Santi said, the smile fading from his face if only for a second, ‘he has so much technic and we need him playing well in the side’. TLR got the impression that there is a great deal of solidity in this crop of Arsenal players,  a team who are sticking together in the face of a great weight of adversity from broadcasters and journalists alike.

Interestingly Santi was quick to say that he believes Arsenal must sign a marquee striker in the Summer, ‘We must sign a player that is different to Giroud, someone who is smaller and faster’ however the Spaniard was just as quick to validate his statement adding ‘not to replace Giroud but to give something different’. TLR coudn’t agree more and we speculated with Santi as to who would fit the bill.

It seems as though yesterday’s Champions League fixture between Olympiakos and Manchetser United provided something of an answer in Joel Campbell. The Costa Rican international scored one of the goals of the round with a superb solo run on the edge of the United penalty area before firing in a precise curling shot beyond an outstretched De Gea.

Between Sanogo and Campbell it is clear that we have a pair of talented players who could no doubt lead the line in seasons to come yet for the moment TLR agrees with Santi, a proven international striker must be brought in to reinstall the fear factor that players like Henry and Robin V. Persie used to bring.

Having spoken with Santi for well over an hour we were interrupted by Santi’s young son who had brought over some kit to show his father. The young Cazorla who is the focus of Santi’s affection had the Puma staff fawning over him, and he’d better get used to the attention, if he’s anything like his father on the pitch he could end up being the same unsuspecting superstar.

The saying goes that you should never meet your heroes, but if your hero happens to be Santi Cazorla then if anything meeting him has only made me a bigger fan of our little Spanish maestro.

Follow @thelovelyreds on Twitter for more exclusive Arsenal stories and news and stay tuned in to the blog which is out every day:  thelovelyreds.blogspot.co.uk