Life begins at 30 - Santi Cazorla interview

On age:

I feel good and don’t need to change anything. Of course, as the years go by the body changes, but right now there’s no specific problem that’s going to force me to change the way I work on a day-to-day basis. I’m going to carry on as I am until something means I can’t do that anymore.

On playing centrally:

I love playing centrally as it means I have a bit more freedom. I’m more able to help my team-mates. At the end of the day, I’m happy to help my team-mates and manager wherever – I’m happy whether I play centrally or on the wing.

On winter breaks:

It’s strange to play over Christmas of course, especially coming from Spain where you get a whole week off. You miss that a bit because you can be with your family and take your mind off football for a few days. It’s different here, though, and Boxing Day football is great for the fans. I’m used to it now.

On Spanish teammates:

It can be a bit dangerous because you practice your English less. Being able to speak to someone in your own language brings you closer and you end up chatting a lot. The Hispanic players are an important part of the squad, with myself, Alexis and David Ospina for example. They’re new but I’ve been here for three years – we’re a great group.

I do feel a responsibility to help the guys adapt, but there are Spaniards that have been there for longer than I have, such as Hector Bellerin. I try to help the Spanish or South American players who arrive here because I know that the first year can be tough.

On the FA Cup final:

It was special for me seeing as it was my first final with Arsenal. I knew it was important to win a trophy after so long. I spoke with members of the coaching staff and they told me we had to win at all costs to put an end to the barren spell. It was an exciting time but there was also pressure because of the fact that we’d gone so long without a trophy.

We didn’t start well at all. Everybody had us down as the big favourites before the match, but we got off to a bad start and conceded two goals from corners in the first 10 minutes. That made the match very difficult but luckily the team was able to react and I think that in the end we deserved the win.

On the FA Cup final free-kick:

Of course I can still remember the free- kick. Before the match, the boss had told us that their goalkeeper always took a step towards the wall when facing free-kicks, so we’d have a good chance of scoring on the other side. So when I got the free-kick, I saw that side was open and figured I’d trust in the boss! Luckily, their goalkeeper did take a step to the side, so when he reacted he didn’t have time to save it.