Alexis Sanchez is in unstoppable form for Arsenal, but is the Chilean the signing of the season?
FOR all the criticism Arsene Wenger cops for his recruitment strategy – and plenty of it is due – has the Frenchman landed the signing of the season in Europe so far?
It’s a big call, but Alexis Sanchez is proving to be a real maestro at Arsenal since arriving from Barcelona in the off-season, adding to his reputation with a goal and two assists this round against Stoke.
He’s the complete package: he gives Arsenal an x-factor, a belief when the chips are down, is a physical specimen and can score any type of goal. More than that, he can play anywhere across the front third.
In fact, while much of the analysis has focused on the paucity of goals Luis Suarez’s replacements at Liverpool have scored, it is telling that it is Suarez himself who is failing to fill Sanchez’s void at Barca.
THE SANCHEZ FILES
- Contributed to 51.4 per cent of Arsenal’s goals
- Been involved in more goals than any other EPL player this term, 19, with Sergio Aguero, 17, next best. The other major candidates for best signing, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, are on 16 each.
- 12 goals scored (fourth in the EPL behind Costa, Aguero, Charlie Austin)
- 7 assists (fourth in EPL behind Fabregas, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Leighton Baines)
- 67 dribbles (third in EPL behind Eden Hazard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)
The likes of Hazard, Fabregas and Costa might feature on this list, but it’s the Arsenal man who appears in all the categories.
Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa fans will disagree as might James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos or Xabi Alonso amongst others in other leagues, but Sanchez is proving to be the acquisition of the summer.
While Mesut Ozil had started to show signs of fatigue this time last season, Sanchez’s form has been too irresistible – and crucial – for Wenger to give him a rest, despite the manager himself admitting at the beginning of December that the Chilean was entering the “red zone” and needed some time out.
“Sanchez is in the red zone, you can see when he plays, but he can dig deep,” Wenger said in December, saying he will need to give his star recruit a rest.
“He played his 27th game on Wednesday (against Southampton) since the start of the season. Unfortunately you never know how far you can push it.
“We are not scientific enough to predict that completely but he recovers very quickly.”
Very quickly, it seems, because Wenger keeps picking him.
Indeed, he’s played a staggering 37 games since August for club and country.
“In the end he feels always ready. Can he keep that energy level up all season? I hope so,” said Wenger in early January, revising his assessment from a month earlier.
“There’s no reason [he can’t] - you’re always told that when a player’s confident, [you should] keep him playing.
“When players are confident it’s important to keep them going, especially when they have that physical potential.
“He recovers very quickly and doesn’t look in our tests to have any fatigue problems.”
There are plenty of strings to Arsenal’s bow when they’re playing well but nevertheless, without Sanchez, it would be a different story this term.
And add to that, his work rate is industrious and his tackle numbers quantify that, dwarfing the league’s other forwards.
“He is amazing. He shows it week in, week out and I think that’s the most important thing,” teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain said.
“For the top players it’s about consistency and not just about being good one week but every week. And I think Alexis has done that all the way through this season.”
With the embarrassment of attacking riches around him, the next question is whether Wenger can get it right, finally, in January and add the in final jigsaw to his Arsenal puzzle: add the steely resolve to his embarrassment of riches.