It has been obvious to Arsenal fans for many weeks that Alexis Sanchez has been suffering from a serious drop in his form and his output for the team, and the stats have backed these thoughts up. But Arsene Wenger still refuses to drop him or even give him a rest so he can recover a little, and yet again the Chilean looked like a shadow of his former self against West Ham last night.
So at last Wenger was finally if he thought that Sanchez was having a dip in form, and he replied: “It’s difficult to say that but he tried tonight, he did fight. It was difficult because they defended very well too.
“He is [very ambitious] but in situations like that, you do not want to focus on one player. You focus more on the collective attitude of the team to keep them focused on the quality of our game. We created chances and that will come back.”
Wenger obviously thinks that Alexis will also regain his brilliant form, but it is not looking too certain at the moment, and our current glut of games should have been the perfect opportunity to give him a rest…
One player that was relegated to the bench was our record signing Alexandre Lacazette. We are used to Wenger not allowing him to play for the full 90 minutes, but the Boss has finally admitted that the French international has been played with an injury. He revealed: “Lacazette, despite all that was said, I played him a little bit with his groin problem and I don’t want to go overboard.
“Olivier Giroud is doing very well.
“Many times I’ve repeated that, it’s not irregular.
“For me, Giroud is a regular and, yes, he came on the other day and gave us a point again.”
Giroud always does well as a sub, but he doesn’t seem to be half as hungry or effective when he starts a game, and so it proved again last night, as he doesn’t play so well as a lone striker. He always scores when Wenger is chasing a game and puts five strikers on the pitch for the last 20 minutes!
We can only hope that Lacazette is back and fit for next week’s game against Liverpool. I’m sure Giroud can handle the Newcastle game, which we absolutely definitely MUST win!
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Oh my! I thought my love for Arsenal Fc had weaned out but here I am always staying awake and waking so early to read just arsenal.com.
I agree with Wenger that Sanchez would regain his brilliant forms. Sanchez, Cazorla and Iwobi are technically gifted players that would flourish under good guidance, which Wenger is supposed to provide.
Giroud suffered if he has to be a lone target man without good crosses, unlike what he got from France’s explosive wingers, Mbappe and Coman. Giroud himself has limited skills and movements, so either Arsenal change their strategy to use Giroud’s strengths or they get more skillful wingers in January.
Just waiting on the day Sanchez leaves, so Wenger can do the complete opposite of Henry and turn a world class forward into a left winger just so he can play Giroud.
Would love to hear what Sanchez has to say about Wenger and Arsenal. Broken promises etc.
Our striking department is becoming poor now
If there is anyone (besides Wenger) who thought we would get 30 goals Sanchez this season after he made it clear he didn’t want to be at the club any more than there are even more naive Arsenal fans than I thought.
Also left wing is Sanchez’s weakest position. Even last season his production dropped when he was moved to the left wing. In fact, even Wenger himself conceded Sanchez is easier to defend against when he is played on the left.
It’s seems Every season we have a top attacker who loses form
This season Alexis
Last season Ozil
Season before Giroud went 15 matches without a goal.
I wish Ozil, Alexis and Lacazette could click as a unit and play together at their very best.
There is also lack of quality in Central Midfield behind Ozil which hurts our attackers too. We need both creativity at the back of midfield and someone with a strong presence who can win back balls
I think we are lucky that Spu and Liv are a bit liker ourselves right now, but I suspect one of the three will make a huge second half season push. Because of Liv attack and tott defence it might not be us who gets that fourth place, we usually go very similar points wise in both halves of season. I want us to get CL football, I don’t want to be putting up with that Europa bull I had my bloody fill. Seeing the teams this season being drawn in CL felt weird without us. I think Arsene’s reign is coming to an end but I don’t see it especially quickening if we are in need of stabilizing as that is one of Arsene’s specialities.
Hey, just like wenger say week ago
Its not couse our attaking is so bad that cant score a goals,
Its couse the opponent is too defending, and its a good defending.
Belive what wenger said!
Let’s be honest here. Alexis has been our worst player for quite some time now. Him and Bellerin. Last season we witnessed sulking along with some other childish, and unprofessional behavior by Sanchez. But most looked the other way because he was still producing goals and assists. This season is different. He doesn’t appear to sulk anymore but everything in his body language tells me that he just doesn’t care. It seems that he mentally checked out a while ago, and it has obviously affected his play. The goals dried up, and he just looks lost out there. Dispossessed 32 times against ManU, 34 times against Soton, and god knows how many times against West Ham. I think we’ve seen the best of Alexis, and I for one will not be sad to see him leave one bit. So long, Little Chilean Le Sulk. You will NOT be missed.
Maybe Alexis was not quite awe inspiring, but I thought he played more like a team player rather than a ball hog.