‘He has all the attributes of a modern striker,’ quoted from the professor. I don’t believe Wenger is looking to bring in another striker, and I don’t believe that Sanchez has come to play on the wings. Walcott will occupy the right, and Chamberlain the left. Alexis Sanchez has joined Arsenal as a centre forward. He’ll play in front of Ozil, and interchange with the two wide men. For the start of the season it does look like Sanchez will occupy the right hand side, due to Theo’s likely absence, but he’ll do it in the way Suarez used to do it. They’re similar players in many aspects. They both dabble in magic; can play all across the front line, even behind the striker, strong on the ball, close control, with a positional intelligence to match all of the previous. Can Sanchez play the striker role effectively for Arsenal? Absolutely. Will he? ‘He has all the attributes’…
Sanchez was arguably one of the picks of the World Cup, save for a disappointing end with a penalty miss, but well forget that, such was the strength of his performances until that point. He, sort of, played up front for Chile, neither solely in the center, nor wide, he was given a free role, drifting in-between the fullbacks and centre backs, and he caused mayhem. He was the driving force of Chile’s attack all summer and he did a brilliant job, dragging players everywhere, freeing up space, and finishing the chances he got. He was unplayable at times; the opposition couldn’t snatch the ball away from him; again sharing similarities with Suarez who’s tight control (football wise, not mentally) is right up with the best in the world, perhaps even the best. For Chile, for the most part, Sanchez is the spark to everything. He is the main man. And he thrives on this responsibility. He notched two goals and assist in the four games Chile played. Not too shabby, against top quality opposition as well. He could play a similar role for Arsenal, interchanging with Ozil and Theo, occupying the free space in-between centre backs and fullbacks. Suarez excelled at this for Liverpool, and if Suarez can adapt, then so can Sanchez.
In his last spell for Barcelona Sanchez recorded a handsome 19 goals and 10 assists, largely playing out on the right, and drifting in, in typical wide-forward fashion. He’ll play this role for Arsenal at some point, but what I’d really like to see is that he’s given the green light to lead the line; I think he’d flourish. This was also his best spell for Barcelona, which bodes well for Arsenal as he approaches his peak years; the added maturity could provide Wenger with even more reason to deploy Sanchez as Arsenal’s main man at top. If his spell at Barcelona is anything to go by, which it should be, then there’s no problem in either the goals or the assists department for Sanchez, he’s hitting double figures out wide, so it makes you wonder what he’d be capable of in a central role for Arsenal.
Another arrow to Sanchez’s rapidly growing quiver is the fact that he gives Arsenal the long and overdue plan B option. Giroud works when it works, but when it doesn’t…Arsenal horribly stutter. Sanchez gives us a new dimension with his ability to play anywhere across the front four, something Giroud does not. Sanchez is not an out and out striker, but his qualities allow him to play in that role as effectively as anyone; this is why he’s world class. Sanchez doesn’t excel in a specific area, he excels in many. When teams are pressing us, Sanchez will be the preferred option to Giroud, due to the outlet his pace will provide, which, on the flipside, will also dissuade the opposition from caging us in; they’ll have to be wary of his pace.
It all depends on whether Wenger will give him the opportunity, and the signs suggest that he will, with Arsene often quick to point out that, in true Wenger fashion, we were maybe lacking a little bit in the final third. That little bit is Theo Walcott’s pace and goals, and that little bit is what Sanchez will bring, and more, much more. We have a real player on our hands, and if isn’t apparent yet, then it soon will be, Sanchez is going to be diamond for us. The Emirates Cup provided a teaser of where Arsene see’s Sanchez, and it’s looking very bright. He came on with Akpom, so it looked as if he was going to occupy the right hand side, with the youngster up top. It wasn’t the case. Akpom went wide, Sanchez played in a free role, drifting out as striker and coming deep as a number ten, and already his freakish close-control was apparent and dazzling to see. In ten minutes, he already showed he had the star factor. The signs are that Wenger wants Sanchez as his striker, and with Campbell staying, who was impressive, it further cements the Chilean’s place as the favourite to lead the line.