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Alexis Sanchez Injury Blessing In Disguise For Arsenal
By Josh Sippie
News has come out of Chile that Arsenal may not be so healthy after international break after all. In fact, they may have had a bit of a setback. Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli said of Alexis Sanchez: “Alexis has a pain in his calf and we will wait for him until the last minute to see if he is ready to play,” as quoted by SkySports.
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An injury to Alexis Sanchez about this time last year would have completely debilitated Arsenal’s season. Conveniently for us, we are not stuck in last year. This year, we have been dealing with a struggling Alexis Sanchez for quite some time now. After scoring seven goals and adding an assist in four games, Alexis Sanchez has now gone five games without a goal and with just one assist. According to WhoScored.com, his player ratings have been steadily dropping off as well.
According to various sources including the Daily Mail, Arsene Wenger had been toying with the idea of giving Alexis Sanchez a mid-season break to refill his energy. While you never root for an injury to force that decision, that could be the situation here. If Wenger was on the fence over whether or not to give the Chilean a breather, maybe this will push him over.
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Alexis Sanchez needs a break. He is exhausted yet again and we have even seem him become a liability. Particularly against Bayern Munich in the home leg. We need a fit Alexis Sanchez if our Champion’s League quest continues and if we want to make another FA Cup run. If that is to happen he needs a break.
This injury is a blessing in disguise for Arsenal, but one thing can blow that up into something awful. If Sampaoli decides to play Sanchez on a sore calf and it gets worse, then suddenly Alexis Sanchez is out for multiple weeks. That is not a good thing. But if Alexis Sanchez gets a break and does not get the run-out, then Wenger still has the nagging calf pain as an excuse to give Alexis that break.
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Arsenal has not been writhing without Alexis Sanchez. It hasn’t been as easy as it was when Alexis Sanchez is healthy and scoring copious amounts of goal, but Arsenal has not been limping. Mesut Ozil is calling the shots and Olivier Giroud is on fire. That will continue and Arsenal can push through some weaker upcoming opponents while Alexis Sanchez takes some deep breaths on the bench.
Then, suddenly, Arsenal is fully fit and ready to rock.