My post wasn't meant to be interpreted as support for Alexis, it was meant to point out that Arsenal had other players score as many big game goals in far fewer minutes. In fact, in league and champions league play Theo and Giroud, combined, played approximately the same number of minutes as Alexis, and together they scored one more goal in those competitions than Alexis. DITTO!!!!
I realize it's the Mirror, but they are usually capable of at least getting numbers right: Alexis Sanchez's wage demands at Arsenal would make him the second-highest paid player in the world http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/alexis-sanchez-wages-demands-arsenal-10753366 I've had it with this plonker. Give him a boat ticket to Italy. Clearly he doesn't have any interest in what's best for the club.
With the great diference, that when they scored, most of the times whom assisted them was Sanchez. While when Sanchez, scores, most of his goals, come from his own creativity.
Thanks for bringing up this important fact Rick--that our whole attack went through Alexis which made us one-dimensional, predictable, and quite easy for big teams to shut us down. I didn't expect you to make such salient points about how Alexis, and by extension all of Chile, are not all they're cracked up to be. But I'm grateful for your ever-present circumspection regarding Chilean matters and, I'm glad that you can see the upside to Alexis and to all of Chile while still maintaining your usual level-headed pessimism about a player and a country which everyone knows won't ever be able to stand up to the standard set by Argentina or Argentina's best player.
Not most of the time. He did provide the assist on 5 of Theo's goals, but he only assisted one of Giroud's goals.
I'm ok with Alexis leaving. His on field whining is too much sometimes. Also, he seems to have had a lot of injuries the last few years (for Arsenal and Chile) that he just played through. With him being 29 this year, those eventually had to add up..no?
Age is my thought. If City are going to pay 60 million, I'd do that deal, but not before getting replacements in first. Or getting Sane to come the other way
City are apparently striving to be the Bayern Munich of the EPL, stockpiling players to keep them away from opponents. If they add Sanchez, somebody is going to be upset about playing time. A front three of Sanchez, Aguro And Jesus would be hard to defend, but that leaves Sane, Sterling, and Bernardo Silva on the bench. Sterling could move inside, but he runs into David Silva and de Brune in the middle. Does Pep sit Aguero, and piss him and the fans off? In addition Sanchez could end up unhappy, I doubt that he would play every minute of every league or champions league game for City,
He does not give a crap about Sergio. If Jesus is healthy, I see him starting. If he lands Sanchez then Aguero will be riding the pine.
I've made my peace, he will leave. Unless he we make it worth his while to stay. Why should he stay though? I can only think of these logical reasons: - Living/working in London (though Chelsea, even Sp*urs and West Ham can make claim to that as a boon to getting players) - Is the main man at a big global football club - Plays under a respected though maligned manager - Plays with other top players And then the negatives: - A big club but is not challenging regularly for the top trophies - Respected manager, but who is past his best - Fellow top players are good fundamentally but inconsistent (Ozil) - Fellow top players are good fundamentally, but lack a strong mentality (Kos, Ozil, Ramsey, Theo, etc.) - Toxic fan atmosphere, which is a response to the bad play, but then will affect the players nonetheless. - No chance of winning the Champions League - Team doesn't progress as it should - The club isn't signing the players it should - FA Cups are nice, but the bigger trophies are better The negatives outweigh the positives, and he's clearly a hungry player, who wants to win. His mentality is that of the Invincibles', since the all were of that mindset.
I just hope this PSG link is true, since the club know that the good will with getting Lacazette, bidding for Mbappe, and bidding for Lemar, would vanish. It would be a regressive step.
At this point I'm ok with Alexis leaving, as long as it's not to a direct rival. He had an exceptional season last year, scoring 27 goals in Premier League and Champions League games. But his total included 17 goals that he scored in the 24 games he lined as the striker. Since Lacazette will almost certainly be filling that role next season, I would expect Sanchez' to revert to the 16 to 19 goals he scored in league and champions league play the three prior years, when he typically lined up as the left forward. There are some surprising stats that put Alexis' contribution as a striker in perspective. In Premier League play last season 0liver Giroud scored .89 goals per 90 minutes, while Alexis' number was .67 goals per 90 minutes. Giroud's number was also better than the .71 goals per 90 minutes that Alexis logged when lined up as the primary striker. With respect to assists, Alexis was slightly better with .28 assists per 90, compared to Giroud's .22. In addition over the last 4 years, counting Alexis' last year at Barcelona, in League and Champions League play, Giroud has scored a goal every 141 minutes, while Alexis has scored a goal every 165 minutes. I'm not arguing that Giroud is a better option than Alexis, instead I'm suggesting that a combination of Lemar and Lacazette could make up for the loss of Sanchez. At 21, with 11 goals and 14 assists in League and Champions League play, including the winning goals in both of Monaco's champions league games with Tottenham, Lemar may be capable of approaching 16 to 19 goals per season.
It's pretty obvious that Sanchez's goal output is going to be better up front than playing behind a striker. However, I would also point out that when Giroud is up there he generally has Sanchez as a provider which makes things a little easier for him (Who crossed for the "scorpion kick" goal again?) . I would ideally like to keep Sanchez, but if he really wants to go then I would sell him abroad now for anything upwards of £50m. If the reports that PSG are willing to pay £70m are true then I'd snap their hand off. I would not sell to City or any other domestic rival. If that's the only option then make him see out his contract.
Actually 9 different players provided assists for Giroud's goals last season. Ramsey, with 3 assists was the top provider. Alexis only provided the assist on one of Giroud's goals. If it was the cross for the scorpion kick, which I didn't confirm, that's not necessarily a great recommendation, Giroud had to improvise on that goal, because the ball was behind him. The player that Alexis provided the most assists for was Ozil, with 5.
Just listening to an Arsecast interview of Ray Parlour from during the Aussie tour in July, and he was asked if any players from today's team would get into the team he played on. His answer was quick & clear: Sanchez. Maybe Koscielny too, but definitely Sanchez. Sounds right on to me. There are no doubt things that you can dislike about Alexis, or be frustrated by, but the one thing that seems all but indisputable is his importance to our team and especially our results. A lot happened over the summer w/ him: His wanting to leave (probably for UCL football and a better chance at trophies); The club saying "he's not for sale"; Then trying to pull of a deal that would let him go at the 11th hour. It was unfortunate, and it'll be interesting to see how Sanchez does this season for us, and how professionally he and his teammates behave after last summer's shenanigans. But on his form up until this point, I would have to agree with the Romford Pele.
Arsenal are in the middle of a relatively poor patch. And perhaps not surprisingly, Sanchez is too. As hard as he's been trying, he's not been having the same amount of positive impacts lately. During a discussion about Alexis on BBC 5Live, including how he's been giving the ball away so many times, I heard Mark Chapman ask who's had more turnovers than Sanchez? The answer was Kevin DeBruyne. Hmm. He didn't cite his source, so I went to confirm this on Squawka or WhoScored, but they don't seem to include "Turnovers" as a stat. Am I missing something? Are there any good websites that tracks player turnovers?
Seen this a bunch of places. Alexis's turnover rate isn't all that high - it's middle of the pack for the lead. He turns the ball over a lot, but that's because he's on the ball a lot. When I have time, I'll post some links.
Yeah, that's what I was wondering. I.e. if DeBruyne makes more turnovers because he makes more passes. If so, Chapman's citing a stat is just to wind someone up. Ideally we'd look at some sort of ratio of turnovers vs total passes.