Tag Archives: Alexis Sanchez

The future of Wenger, Sanchez and The Ox

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In the second leg of a series of 2 blogs that I am going to call random stuff I am predicting because I am bored of the international break and football in general we look at the future of 3 men at Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger

We have all known it for months. But buried our head in the sand hoping it was not true. Arsene Wenger is going to sign a new contract at Arsenal.

He probably agreed the deal back in January, and was just waiting for the right time for the news to be announced. But with our bad form, there has simply not been a right time.

The hopeful in me would like to think that Arsenal have actually spent the last 2 months since the contract was signed exploring their options. Approaching various other managers on the quiet, whilst also attempting to negotiate a way out of the contract agreed with Wenger. Maybe we a well p[aid move upstairs.

The realist in me knows this has not happened. The board are happy with Wenger. Wenger thinks he is doing a great job. And the new contract will be announced after our season tickets have been renewed.

Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez has never stayed more than 3 years at a single club. He has never signed a second contract at any club he has been at. After 3 years, he packs his bags and moves on.

He is. Whether his destination by Bayern Munich, Juventus, Real Madrid or PSG, I predict he will not be at Arsenal next season.

With just a single year left on his contract, Arsenal are not in a great position to negotiate. The main hope is that all 4 of the above get into a bidding war, pushing the price up. But ultimately the ball is in Sanchez’s court, and a bit like Robin van Persie a few years back, he will be able to force a move to the club he wants to join, not the club Arsenal want to sell him too.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Recently I have felt a bit sorry for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He has been thrown to the wolves a few times in recent weeks, facing the media after a defeat because no one else has the testicles to do so (when was the last time Laurent Koscielny faced the media?)

He has also been the sole man coming across to the fans.

He is one of the few players who seems to feel the pain of defeat that the away support do. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He has shown captains material in recent weeks.

But I predict if he does become a captain, it will be for another club.

He has never really settled at Arsenal, in and out of the team due to injury, form and non-selection. Played in many positions. Many times out of position.

But he is talented. With the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea in desperate need of home grown talent, and with one year left on his contract, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be playing in blue next season. The only question will be; Dark blue or light blue?

Keenos

How do The Invincibles and Class of 2017 compare?

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Yesterday Arsene Wenger cam out and claimed his current crop of forwards was the best options he has had in his 2 decades at the club, surpassing the invicibles:

“Certainly numbers-wise and quality-wise together [they are the best],” Wenger said ahead of today’s clash with struggling Watford.

“We had never so many players who could perform and score goals – certainly never.

“Dennis and Thierry had the quality but we did not have a large number. We had Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires as well so it was not bad.”

Many have used this of further proof that Arsene Wenger is a deluded old man who has gone senile. It is further quotes to prove that he now looks at the current set up through rose tinted glasses.

Arsenal’s current forward options are: Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil & Lucas Perez. How can these compare to Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord. The invincibles.

Well the statistics do make for interesting reading:

Invincibles v Class of 2017

goals-in-order

So the Invincibles scored a goal every 2.96 games. Whilst the Class of 2017 are a goal every 3.01 games. Almost nothing in it. We are talking about a 5 minute difference. But of course, it disproves Arsene Wenger’s point. The Invincibles were superior goal scorers, but only just. And probably not by as much as people think.

For me there are main differences between the two groups of players is top end quality. The Invincibles had Thierry Henry.

Henry is by far and away the most clinical player out of the 12 players and the primary reason that the Invincibles scored more than the Class of 2017.

A minor reason is Dennis Bergkamp against Mesut Ozil. Bergkamp was much more of a striker than Mesut Ozil. Scored more goals.

Henry better than Giroud, Bergkamp better than Ozil. When you combine all 12 players into a single long list, it makes equally as interesting reading.

Long List

long-list

This list further proves that Henry was superior to every other player. Our greatest goal scorer of all time. But the next two on the list are interesting. Both from the Class of 2017. This shows that whilst the Invincibles were heavily reliant on goals from Henry, the Class of 2017 has two goal scoring options.

Lucas Perez has to kind of be disregarded as he has played so few games to make a true judgement.

You then have the next 5. Pires, Bergkamp, Wiltord, Welbeck & Walcott. Very similar games to goal ratio.

So the Invincibles had the best goal scorer, but the Class of 2017 had the better options.

Player v Player

side-by-sideA last comparison is just seeing players per their position.

Again, this highlights the importance of Henry and Bergkamp. Henry is vastly superior to Giroud. Bergkamp better than Ozil. This is not exactly ground breaking news.

On the left hand side, Sanchez out scores Pires, which again is not exactly surprising. Sanchez is better than Pires.

The right hand side of the midfield might surprise you. Walcott is more dangerous than Ljungberg.

Wiltord and Welbeck are both hardworking strikers who also cover the wide positions. Wiltord had played a lot more than Welbeck, but their record is identical.

Lastly we have Perez v Kanu. Not similar in style, but they are the lost ones left. Kanu on his day was a game changer, but was extremely inconsistent. A scorer of great goals, rather than a great goal scorer.

 

I think it is wrong to compare the Invincibles to the Class of 2017. The Invincibles won league titles, and went unbeaten. Add in a lot of FA Cups. Whilst the current crop have just those 2 FA Cups to show for their efforts. But the comparison does make interesting reading, and the difference is not as much as you would think.

The difference is Bergkamp and Henry.

Keenos

Note: I know I spelt Wiltord’s name wrong in the pretty pictures

Alexis Sanchez, Pep Guardiola, Harry Kane

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Alexis Sanchez

My first thought when I saw Alexis Sanchez’s petulant display after being substituted against Swansea was grow up. 24 hours on, my opinion is still the same.

Yes, I understand the defence some are putting up for him. That no player should like being substituted, and that Sanchez merely showed that he wants to play, and win. But Sanchez’s behaviour showed he needs to understand the game situation a bit more.

On the pitch he is a selfish player. A remarkable individual talent. At the likes of Udinese, and for Chile, he has been able to do what he wants. At Barcelona he had to be a team player, and struggled. At Arsenal he has shown similar behaviour patterns.

He lacks respect for management and seems to be unable to understand decisions mde that ultimately were correct.

I doubt anyone truly thinks Arsene Wenger was incorrect taking Sanchez off at 4-0. And if you do think he was incorrect, this is likely more to do with your anti-Wenger agenda than the actual decision. Had Wenger kept Sanchez on, and he got injured, you would have moaned even more.

It was Sanchez’s overall behaviour that disappointed me throughout the entire situation.

As he came off, fans who had travelled for 4 hours, on the road, on the train, with a replacement rail bus service, sang out his name. At no point did he acknowledge those fans. He then failed to acknowledge Arsene Wenger. Highlighting he has little respect for management.

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He then sat on the bench, with a coat over his head, crying. Man up son.

Sanchez is a world class player. At 28 he is one that many of the youngsters at the club will look up to, try to be like, try to emulate. Some have spoken in the past about how he should be Arsenal captain. But this strop was up there with William Gallas sitting in the centre circle away at Birmingham.

He has a responsibility as a senior member of the playing stuff to set a good example. I wonder what the likes of Ainsley Natiland-Niles and Jeff Adelaide thought. Impressionable young players, sitting on the bench, Sanchez did not even accept their well done’s.

Over at Chelsea, Eden Hazard was taken off with 15 minutes to go, Chelsea were 3-0 up. He shook the hand, or high fived, every player, every member of staff, on the Chelsea bench when coming off. He understood the game situation. Realised the game was one, knew he had done his job for the day. This is how I expect a senior, talented player to act.

Sanchez showed he thinks he is more important than Arsenal. I admire that he wants to play every minute of every game, but as a senior player he should know that the team is bigger than him, that he does not need to play every minute of every game.

If Sanchez’s behaviour was due to him being unhappy at the club, wanting to leave, then he knows where the door is. I support Arsenal, not Sanchez. Players come and go. We have lost bigger and better players than Alexis Sanchez.

It is Arsenal FC, not Sanchez FC.

Pep Guardiola

Has Pep Guardiola been found out in the Premier League?

Yesterday Everton thrashed his Manchester City side 4-0. Guardiola sat there in his dug out, motionless. Helpless. Changing nothing tactically. Making substitutions that made no difference. It was a Wenger-esque performance from the Spaniard.

Guardiola and Wenger are kindred spirits. Managers who believe in a certain way of playing, and will rarely change that way. Both hold the belief that you do not need to prepare for the opposition, that if you play your own game, and play well, you win, no matter what.

At Barcelona, this philosophy worked. But when you had extreme talents like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi, managing is easy. The Barcelona squad was filled with intelligent, talented players. Guardiola just had to sit and watch.

At Bayern Munich it was no different. Guardiola took over a Munich team who had lost just 3 times in all competitions the previous year. A side that won the treble. Scoring 151 goals and conceding just 33. Again, like at Barcelona, he had it easy. In Europe the cracks began to show, however, as his side were knocked out at the Semi-Final stage of the Champions League in each of the 3 seasons.

When Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United, the club fell apart. Ferguson was the genius holding the club together. Barcelona have won 3 of the 4 La Liga’s since Guardiola left, and Bayern sit top of the Bundesliga, having lost just a single game all season. Neither club has gone backwards since Pep left. Proof, perhaps, that Pep had little to do with the success of both clubs.

And now he finds himself in the Premier League, and he looks a broken man. He has previously spoken about struggling mentality at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, in two leagues where there is not a great deal of intensity. I think he is struggling with the competitiveness of the Premier League.

In Germany and Spain, 70% of the sides lie down and die. In the Premier League, every game (unless you are playing Swansea) is ultra-competitive, full blooded. And that is where Guardiola is struggling.

He is struggling to get himself up for a tough game every weekend. Struggling to get his squad up for every game. The fact that he left his squad with just one striker – Sergio Aguero – shows just how much he has underestimated the Premier League.

Last season, Manchester City were 4th, 15 points off top. They currently sit 5th (I am writing this before the Man U v Liverpool game), 10 games off top. Guardiola has not taken City forward.

I honestly think he will leave City in the summer. Managing in the Premier League is too tough a challenge for him. After only ever having success in his career, he will not be able to cope with failure.

He has spoken about how he is already thinking of retiring. He is clearly not enjoying the job he has at City. I think his bottle will go and he will chuck it all in.

Statistics

I love statistics. Always have done, always will. But the statistics have to be relevant. Yesterday I saw a statistic doing the rounds that was just laughable:

Spurs striker (Harry Kane) has reached 62 Prem goals in fewer games than Arsenal legend Thierry Henry

If anyone can tell me why 62 Premier League goals is relevant, please leave an answer in the comments section below.444

It is a statistic for statistics sake. Created to generate hits for the newspaper that produced it. To garner RT’s. Comparing Kane and Henry is laughable. Yes, Kane is showing himself to be a very good striker, but he has no where near the talent of Henry. Even the most die hard Spurs fan would admit that.

At 23, Henry had won the World Cup (where he finished his countries to scorer) and the European Championships. Harry Kane took a free kick that nearly hit the corner flag.

Kane is a good player, but lets see at the end of his career what he has won for Spurs before we compare him to one of the greatest players to have ever played in English football.

Keenos