Arsenal boss Wenger: Cazorla a midfield ‘master’

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Santi Cazorla has become a “master” in centre midfield.

The diminutive Spain international was captain for the Gunners’ 2-0 FA Cup win against Middlesbrough on Sunday, with Per Mertesacker dropped to the bench to hand January signing Gabriel Paulista his debut.  

And Wenger hinted that Cazorla’s central role could be a more regular occurrence in the Arsenal side now that the former Villarreal midfielder reaches the latter stage of his career.

“He has become a master of central midfield,” said Wenger. “Today again his performance was top.

“I didn’t see that [defensive role] in him as much as a central player, but defensively he has improved a lot.

“You always have to be open-minded with players sometimes, he is 30 now, and it is a little bit more difficult on the flanks for him [but] showed he has other aspects of his game in the middle.”