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Alexis Sanchez’s PFA Award Snubbing an Absolute Atrocity
By Josh Sippie
Alexis Sanchez has had an absolutely stunning first year in the Premier League for Arsenal. In the 2014 half he was the only reason Arsenal stayed relevant. His goal scoring rate was at a goal a game. With Olivier Giroud hurt, Mesut Ozil floundering (and then hurt) and Aaron Ramsey out as well, the mantle fell to Alexis Sanchez and he thrived.
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In the second half of the year, a lot of people said that Alexis “fell off.” And statistically, he did. His goal-scoring rate fell considerably. But in the defense of Alexis Sanchez, Giroud, Ozil and Ramsey were all back and the new Arsenal system was geared towards a team attack. He continued to play his part and he played it masterfully. However, since his statistics fell off, it’s therefore assumed that his form did too.
Alexis Sanchez has the best work rate in England. No matter the time or the score, he’s hustling and going as hard as he can. He contributes as much defensively as he does offensively, something no one else in the award contention can claim.
Eden Hazard deserves the award. He’s put up 18 goals and 10 assists (via ESPNFC), very similar to Alexis Sanchez’s 21 goals and 9 assists. Hazard has been a bit more consistent though. I have no qualms with him being the award winner, but it should have been a competition between him and Alexis Sanchez. Harry Kane pulling in second place and David De Gea coming in third, both ahead of Alexis Sanchez, is the part that I don’t understand. Nobody has done more for their team than Alexis Sanchez and it’s his first year no less.
Going off of WhoScored.com‘s player ratings, which I understand isn’t a foolproof source, Alexis Sanchez’s average rating is a solid 7.86. While that’s inferior to Hazard’s 8.10, it’s far better than David De Gea’s 6.68 and Harry Kane’s 7.32.
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Individual awards don’t mean too terribly much to these players. Ask any of them and they’ll tell you that team success is far more satisfying. But it’s still an absolute atrocity that Alexis Sanchez isn’t getting the respect he deserves. In the beginning part of the year, he was hands down the most prolific player. Just because Arsenal’s players returned to health and they changed their play style, both of which affected Alexis Sanchez’s workload, doesn’t mean that he got worse or fell off.
The only conceivable reason that Alexis Sanchez wouldn’t even break the top three is because of the “falling off” concept. Even if he did slightly “fall off” his contributions still far exceed Kane and De Gea and are on equal footing with Hazard.
Another potential factor is just that Arsenal never seem to get the respect they deserve in general. They don’t spend gobs on new, flashy toys like Chelsea and Manchester United and therefore the media never portrays them fairly. Alexis Sanchez could just be a victim of his surroundings.
I don’t know how it happened, but they should all be ashamed.
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