Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Arsene Wenger are one in the same

By Josh Sippie

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It benefits everyone on a club when you pick up a player that immediately fits into that club’s philosophy. Alexis Sanchez was one such player. When he came to Arsenal, it felt like the prodigal son returning home, yet this was never his home.

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Everything about Alexis Sanchez fits in with everything about Arsenal. He has pizzazz and talent to die for, he defends as well as he attacks, he is tenacious across the pitch and he trains with more vigor than anyone else out there. As we saw over the summer, even when he was supposed to be vacationing on the beach, Alexis instead opted to train on the beach. Of course, to him that is a vacation.

The work ethic, though, is what makes Alexis the ideal player for what Arsenal is all about. Arsenal play a team game, where everyone pitches in to every facet of the game. Alexis already does that, so no adjustment was necessary in seeing him brought to his new outfit.

Alexis is just a different breed of player, one that takes nothing for granted and cherishes the game he plays and the way he plays it.

There are few who have such a passion for what they do. Even within the game of football, there are guys who do it all for themselves or do it to be paid or a variety of other things. But one man who shares the same passion as Alexis Sanchez is none other than the Chilean’s gaffer, Arsene Wenger.

The similarities between the two are uncanny. Both live and breathe football, as they have their entire life. Alexis used to play barefoot in his small Chilean town of Tocopilla and Arsene Wenger played from the time he knew what the sport was as well. Different upbringings, same outcome. They both had to work, and work hard, for what they achieved. Alexis had to be noticed in a small South American town and Arsene Wenger had to be noticed among a mass of other, higher-qualified candidates to get the Arsenal job.

As much as Alexis is a different breed of player, Arsene Wenger too, is a different breed of manager. As Arsenal.com points out, “The old-school habits of throwing teacups and tantrums were not for him. Instead the squad grew accustomed to nutrition and new training methods. Off the pitch Wenger has been just as effective, taking an active role in the building of a new training ground and the Emirates Stadium project.”

While Alexis is showcasing how different he is with his ceaseless training and tireless work ethic, Arsene Wenger did so with new methods, new strategies and new outlooks. Wenger changed what Arsenal was all about and you could make the argument that Alexis is doing the same now, as Arsenal seemed to be pushed from being Champion’s League qualifier to being regular title contenders.

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It makes sense that Wenger would place so much value on Alexis when the passion he has for the game is so blatantly obvious and so similar to his own.

The two also had immense pressure when they joined up with their new club for the first time. However, they were from two opposite ends of the spectrum. Arsene Wenger was an unknown. Club captain Tony Adams said via the Guardian: “At first, I thought, what does this Frenchman know about football? He wears glasses and looks more like a schoolteacher. He’s not going to be as good as George Graham. Does he even speak English properly?”

The pressure for Alexis was different. He did not have to perform so as to prove himself, he had to perform to maintain his status as a superstar, or essentially to reclaim it, seeing as how Barcelona is not too keen on superstar statuses.

At the end of the day, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger and Alexis are perfect for each other. The manager and the star are one in the same in this game and it will be exciting to see what heights they reach together.

Next: Arsenal greats need to back off Giroud

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