The game between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Etihad stadium was billed by the football media as being about a clash between two of the shining stars of the Premier League this season, Alexis Sanchez and Sergio Aguero. It did not really happen that way and it is fair to say that our new superstar did not have his best or most effective game.
On the face of it anyway, although it is a little harsh to expect the Chile international striker to win every game for us and he still put in plenty of work to keep the Man City defence and midfield busy. And as usual, Alexis defended from the front, but was not quite as remarkable because he was joined by all of his team mates.
There is an argument that the battling performance we saw from the Gunners at the home of the EPL champions would not have happened without the signing of Sanchez from Barcelona in the summer. We have already hear Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain raving about his attitude and desire, both on the pitch and in training and he does seem to be inspiring more effort from those around him.
Theo Walcott has even told Arsenal Player that he thinks his new team mate has become the role model for all the other Arsenal players, as well as bringing true quality to the team with his technical ability, pace, power, finishing and vision.
Walcott said, “You see somebody working so hard and it makes you want to try to back him up.
“When you see what he does off the pitch, behind the scenes at the training ground, and how much work he puts in, all the players just stand up and think ‘Yeah, I need to a bit more as well then’.
“It’s about getting that balance right. We told him during the Christmas period to relax a little bit, but he still cracked on with his gym work! He’s that sort of person – nothing will make him tired. It’s healthy to see, because the Premier League is very fast, but he’s coped with it fine.
“He is amazing because he spots things that a lot of players won’t. I tend to make my runs off the ball and he is always looking for that. He drags more players on to him, which creates more space for other people and I do the same thing.
“It is a great balance and once I am fully fit, I think it is going to be some force for the Premier League to handle.”
It certainly should be, but is Alexis’ example to his team mates just as important as his ability?
We like him, Alexis, yes we do!
COYG!
He has been huge for us. Man City made special focus on him and that has also not allowed their
wing back to roam forward. In few years I can see him banging 40 goals in a season which will take him close to the level of Messi and ronaldo. He just needs to improve his finishing a bit to reach that level. Currently he is the best player in PL, just if he works on his finishing he can be the world’d best.
Definitely if a team has that kind of player, it is of course will motivate the other players to work hard and do well.
Wenger must be credited for his signing
Alexis the savior. He has been a shining light in this season full of ups and downs. Although,2 things I hate are cheap turnovers and getting lost in your dribble. He wears himself out chasing down the ball after turnover or trying to create something. I think it’s been better lately because the whole team is playing better.
we need a quality GK like De Gea whom single handly save RVP Utd……
spend some money Wenger!!
@Hafiz Rahman
Beside for the 2 goals that we conceded vs Southampton (Shezney again) , I don’t think there’s much that De Gea could’ve done diff from the rest of the goals we conceded…cant blame a keeper for every goal conceded…
Fck, W. Shezny must be the most difficult arsenal player name to spell…lol
We may already have a world class goalie in Ospina. I watched him play one game in the World Cup and he was awesome. But basing an opinion on one game is not enough. Producing a top performance in the WC in Brazil is different to spending 80 minutes on a cold wet/sleety evening in England doing very little and then producing a world class save which affects the result. There is also communicating with defenders, arranging the defence, distributing the ball etc.
I think Ospina may already be world class or could become so but we do not know until he has more game time. We also need to be patient, De Gea made some real blunders when he started at Manu. As I said in a previous post, I think he has come to Arsenal to be the number one goalie, not to sit on the bench. Fingers crossed that we have a star player. He must have impressed Wenger to play him ahead of Szezny.
Must all articles in Justarsenal end with a question??? 🙁 🙁 the closing question today is very off the mark. We need, I Hafiz manner, to spend spend for wc article writers 😀 😀 😀
on topic..
If only Welbeck Theo n Ox worked on their finishing…we would easily beat Bayern 8-0 with a front 6 of
coq-ox
walcot-santi-alexis
welbeck.
It would be a game of wild pace n goals. If only..
you all disagree?!! 🙁 🙁 🙁
so sad 🙁 🙁
#pi is not the foe
#wenger is the foe
#love pi n give him thumps up
#hate wenger n say wenger out
# 🙁 🙁 🙁
Dont know y but u replying to this makes it so funny, lol
you have to admit, whats better than having sanchez, having sanchez and ox in the same team.
theyre both terrific for us on the flanks, probably the best wingers combo in the league.
fine ox hasnt scored or assisted as much, but i dont doubt his finishing or passing, its just that he’s a little more fair and will try make a pass/cross/cut back. He’ll blitz his marker, make his way to the box and look up for something, while alexis will do that but will favour himself for a chance on goal. (its something i dont like about sanchez, not looking up enough, but i guess its worked great for him so far)
I think its obvious that Sanchez is a huge asset to AFC, his example to teammates and ability…also having a player like Alexis helps his team mates when other teams seem to concentrate more on marking him (like Man City), it allows others the freedom to play….almost similar to the Messi effect at Barca……imagine having an in-form theo and sanchez in the same team, Goals from either side…
The biggest long term impact from Alexis’ arrival, is not his goals but his effect on his team-mates.
He is so full of energy, commitment and never-say-die attitude, that they are almost shamed into raising their own work-rate. Look at the performances by Santi, the Ox and Olivier on Sunday – they never stopped running, helping Le Coq and taking pressure off defence.
He has played almost every game this season – at the same level of intensity – remember Theo saying that he told Alexis to take it easy??!! Well Theo you have to step up to the plate now, as does Rambo.
COYG
Having a player like Alexis even if he has an off day has to help the defence. Opponents know about his pace and ability and will be wary of committing too many players forward. They also have to arrange their defence to contain him which creates space for other players in attack.
His work rate must inspire other members of the team. However against lesser teams we must be able to beat them without Alexis, he needs to be rested to keep him fresh and hopefully without injury.
Being able to substitute Alexis towards the end of the game, away to Man City was awesome. We need to be able to replicate this against all teams in the Premier League, including the top ones.
Sanchez is brilliant at what he does, our best players.. But he has got some aspects of his game that he needs to work on, his only weakness is holding on to the ball for far too long and ends up running into trouble and counter attack is on.
He also has to work on his link up and passing in the final 3rd, that’s his most weakest, a lot of his passes are always too short, too long or just misplaced. He will try like 6 passes and only get 1 or 2 right. He gives the ball away too much in the final 3rd. If he can work on that he will be going into superman territory.
Agree. My son always has a go at me for all the “for f**k sakes” I hurl around when he quite regularly loses the ball. I am exactly the same with Ox. In fairness, exciting players of this ilk are normally trying things others don’t/can’t attempt and often at fair tempo so shouldn’t be too harsh I suppose. And Alexis and Ox sort of monopolise the Arsenal “wow” moments for me so it is often a bitter/sweet experience watching them. At Barca, whilst loved and appreciated by the fans, they all said if Alexis had a major weakness it was his first touch. I suppose having been accustomed to Messi, Xavi and Iniesta the Barca fans set the bar quite high on that one. Too right footed as well. But when you list his attributes I think we can cut him some slack.
Alexis can only be faulted when he dribbles the ball in a silly situation. Most of his dribbles are great, but sometimes he decides to draw his man at an inopportune moment and gets turned over when we have players ahead of him. This happened a couple times in our dodgy 10 minutes in the second half against City. If he’s in front of play though, Sanchez is completely deadly, no problems at all.
I’d say he is instilling a press mentality into Arsenal. Not necessarily the high press, but certainly a press mentality. When you watch Arsenal when we get it right, Sanchez goes and the team follows. When we get it wrong, i.e. Southampton, everyone acts of their own accord. When Coq and Sanchez take the lead, we’ve got something good. It’s keeping that going – and the more time the team plays together the more we’ll build on that. Stability is a great thing. Pray for no injuries!