Arsenal: Could Alexis Sanchez Be Long Term Striker?

Alexis Sanchez has been selected to start against Hull City as the central striker once again. Could he become Arsenal’s long-term centre-forward?

The centre-forward position has been one of great consistency and yet uncertainty since the departure of Robin Van Persie. The Dutchman left Arsenal in a controversial switch to rivals Manchester United. His replacement, Olivier Giroud, has split opinion like almost no other player before him.

The apparent floundering Frenchman has not yet filled the shoes – mightily tough shoes to fill, but that was the hope nonetheless – of Van Persie. While his intelligence in open play, his touch and aerial dominance are key attributes that make him a dangerous striker, his inconsistencies in his finishing, as evidenced by a sketchy goalscoring record have seen many point to his shortcomings in Arsene Wenger’s system.

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Moreover, Wenger is seemingly attempting to shift the style of attacking play that his side focuses upon. Rather than use Giroud as a focal point to play off, Wenger is perhaps wanting his team to play with at a greater speed with a threat in behind, something that Giroud does not have the skills to do. This lead Wenger into the transfer market, firstly with a failed move for pacey Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy, who is famed for his speed and lethal finishing, and secondly and more successfully, for Deportivo La Coruna centre-forward Lucas Perez, another who relies on his pace.

However, Perez is yet to settle into English football, and part time striker Theo Walcott seems resigned to his fate as a right winger. This has seen Wenger turn to a rather unlikely source in the striking department. At risk of upsetting what has been a beautifully balanced attack centred around the skills of Mesut Ozil, Wenger has started left-winger Alexis Sanchez as the lone striker in a false nine type role. With mixed results thus far, could the Chilean actually develop into the long-term answer at the position?

As time passes and Sanchez continues in his role as the central striker, it is becoming more and more likely that he could well settle into the role on a full-time basis. It was thought by many, myself included, that Sanchez was simply replacing Giroud while the Frenchman recovered from fatigue after the European Champions in the summer.

However, with a slow start to the season from Giroud thanks to a lack of game time and match sharpness, compounded by a big toe injury that has kept him out of Saturday’s match with Hull City, Sanchez could see time as a centre-forward far more frequently and more prolonged than first anticipated.

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Wenger certainly has a penchant for altering players’ natural positions. Thierry Henry is his most famous example, Theo Walcott is another. Now it looks as though he may be set to do the same with Sanchez. Whether it reaps the rewards of past tactical shifts or not, only time will tell.

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