Arsenal

Santi Cazorla enjoying deeper midfield role at Arsenal

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 29 October 2015

Arsenal's Santi Cazorla insists that he 'really likes' playing in a more reserved position, but says he is still searching for his best form as a result of the switch.

Santi Cazorla has admitted that he is enjoying his new role at Arsenal, but is still 'finding his best form' in the deep-lying midfield position.

The Spaniard has been given a more reserved role by Arsene Wenger alongside Francis Coquelin in front of the Gunners' back four.

Despite the goals drying up as a result of the positional shift, Cazorla says that he is relishing the additional responsibility placed on his shoulders to help those further forward.

"The boss changed my position last season to play me more centrally," he told the club's official website. "It's a position I really like, though of course it means I'm further away from the opposing area so I have fewer chances to score. I'm finding my best form and I'm really enjoying the new position.

"You have different responsibilities. In terms of defence, you have to defend more and you have to help the team more in terms of making sure you're well-positioned to ensure the players in attack can stay fresh.

"We need the likes of Mesut [Ozil], Alexis [Sanchez], [Aaron] Ramsey, [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain, [Theo] Walcott and [Olivier] Giroud to be fresh - so that means myself, Coquelin, [Mikel] Arteta and [Mathieu] Flamini need to be well-positioned to ensure those in attack can perform as well as possible."

Cazorla has played every minute of Arsenal's Premier League season to date.