If only Arsenal had played Alexis as centre-forward last season!

I know we all hate “if only”s but I can’t help but think that Arsene Wenger must be regretting that he didn’t play Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal’s centre-forward until this season, or in fact since the first day he arrived at the club, rather than having him stationed on the wing.

The Chilean is now totally relaxed in the role and his hat-trick only proved the point. Wenger now admits that this is obviously his best position. “He has all the ingredients that you want for a centre forward,” Le Prof said on Arsenal.com. “We all would love his qualities to play there. And I think as well, now, he is convinced that it’s his best position and in every game he has that as well.

“He maintains that focus and will always kill you when he can. He can always deliver something special because he can dribble, has a short backlift, and he has pace. So that’s why it’s interesting.”

It may be interesting to Wenger now, but for the last two years Arsenal fans have been screaming at the boss to invest in a top-class striker, especially when Olivier Giroud was going through one of his drought periods. But all the time we had a brilliant striker in the squad the whole time!

If Wenger had’ve actually realised this fact earlier then maybe we wouldn’t have dropped so far behind Leicester last season. Instead Le Prof gave Theo Walcott a chance as Number Nine, and we all know how that worked out!

Oh Wenger. If only. If only!

Darren N

7 Comments

  1. Alexis is simply a player in form. His goals are not as a result of him playing centre forward. If you watch his goals, he could as well have scored them playing on the wings.

    1. I disagree, think it is because of his new position. Alexis got found out last season on LW, and really struggled at times, but now he almost has a free roll upfront, and a lot less emphasis on him defending, although he still tracks back a lot, and helps the team out. He comes deep, plays on the shoulder of the last defender, and pops up on both wings. He’s literally everywhere!

      I really hope Arsenal don’t penny pinch, offer him what he deserves. He should be the highest earner, and by a big margin. If Arsenal need extra wages from somewhere, then please just sell Ramsey. It really is that easy!

  2. If only Arsenal wouldn’t have sold RvP, if only Wenger left for PSG, if only Usmanov would have the share majority, if only Walcott or Ramsey were fit in 2013.
    This is one of the most stupid arguments one can make. Talking after the facts happened won’t make you smart or interesting, it will just show you are a moron with no clue at the time decisions were taken. Last season, especially immediately after EC everyone was set in playing Giroud + Sanchez just as they did with Griezmann. Now that Sanchez is scoring in this position lately it is exactly what Wengers should have done last year. Fact is that Sanchez was really tired last year plus the fact that there was only one dimension in him playing as LW. Upfront and especially switcjing roles with Ozil he’s giving more thoughts to the opposition. But even this can be solved, see Middlesborough or Liverpool.

  3. The reason he has settled down in the number 9 role is because he is not the type that stays upfront waiting for the ball to come to him like Giroud does. This happened in his first two games in that role and we started criticizing him and Wenger. But when he later started coming deep to be involved in the play, he became very effective as he drew the opposition’s centre defenders out thereby opening space for himself and his team mates to cause problems for the opposition’s defense. The game against Chelsea comes to mind.

  4. I am a bit gutted that the article seemed to be taking a swipe on Wenger rather then giving him credit. Last season, he gave Walcott a chance to prove himself as a CF while Alexis thrived in his natural position. This season we all clamoured for Wenger to splash 60Mil for a WC CF, but out of his ingenuity he encouraged Walcott to return to his natural position and converted AS7 to a CF and both are now thriving more than they did in the previous years. I will not be surprised if Chile starts to use Alexis as a CF. At the beginning of the season while Alexis was settling down in the new position many slated Wenger claiming we were using one of our best players out of position. But Wenger saw beyond us all; he stuck with him like he does with most of his players. Now we are reaping and we now boast as the second most prolific scoring team (only behind
    Liverpool). Wenger has tinkered on and improved the team vastly over the years all due to his foresight; Wenger deserves credit for pulling another off withought having to spend a needles 89m (sorry Moaniho). Thumbs up for Wenger!

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