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Pros and Cons of Alexis Sanchez Being a Striker for Arsenal

By Josh Sippie

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Alexis Sanchez has returned from his ‘vacation’ following the Copa America and is back with the first team in training. If that does not get you smiling, I do not know what will. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be resting, Alexis, being a permanently well-oiled machine, was instead training to his heart’s content, as reported by the Daily Mail. 

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Arsene Wenger weighed in on his Chilean’s work ethic: “You can’t imagine him lying on the beach somewhere and not moving! He came back in good fitness shape so that is quite positive, but I am not surprised by that because I can’t imagine him lying around for four weeks and doing nothing. That wouldn’t be him.”

Wenger has also refused to rule out the possibility of Alexis showing up against West Ham on Sunday.

All of this spells good news, with Alexis set to rejoin an attack populated by Theo Walcott, the Ox, Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil. It would be an incredibly challenging task to find a more appetizing attack anywhere in the world.

However, that being said, it is usually an established fact that your best goal scorer is put at the front of the attack. For Arsenal’s case, Alexis is our best goal scorer. So shouldn’t he be leading the charge on most occasions?

Normally, it would be a clear-cut yet. But in this situation, it is a bit muddled.

First, lets look at the cons.

Despite being used as a striker for the Chilean national team, Alexis statistically plays his best football on the wings. According to WhoScored.com, the Chilean averages about an 8.0 player rating when not playing centrally as opposed to a 7.3 when playing centrally.

Secondly, when being used as a striker, you lose out on a lot of Alexis’s best assets. On the wings, he is able to track back on defense and push attacks forward. As a forward, he would not be able to do that as much and if he did, the team would suffer. At left wing, Alexis is not dependent on anyone else to get him the ball for goals. He can create for himself.

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Lastly, putting Alexis up front would push Giroud and Walcott down the totem pole and leave the left wing exposed. Alexis is performing just fine on the left and he is scoring as well. Moving him up front may provide more goals for him but it weakens the left side of the pitch.

As far as the pros, for starters, you can bet Alexis would score more goals. he put up 25 as a predominant left winger. If you make him the focal point of an attack, he would be topping the Premier League in goals in no time.

The second pro was also a con. I will explain. At striker, he would not be tracking back on defense as much. That would save him for the attacks and allow him to absolutely burst forward when the team presses towards the goal. Exhaustion was a major concern for him last year and we never really got a conclusive answer regarding whether it was a factor or not.

Lastly, it would eliminate all clamor to bring in a new world-class striker. Alexis is a world-class striker, he just is not being used as one, as his versatility allows for teams to put him elsewhere.

All things considered, I would not mind seeing Alexis being given another shot at striker. He was given a handful of chances for Arsenal last year, but never with the squad we have now at full health. It would at least be worth a gander to see if we have had the solution all along.

Next: Arsenal fans Shaming Themselves over Gabriel

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