Arsenal: One Of Two Things Needs To Happen With Alexis Sanchez

Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez has revealed that his basic existence depends on him scoring goals. With that in mind, one of two things needs to change.

There are basic disasters and Armageddon-like scenarios that should haunt most people – volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. But next to the end of the world, there is Alexis not scoring for Arsenal. The Chilean superstar revealed through a recent interview that when a goal is not achieved, “I go home, can’t sleep and I just think I have to play better” (as quoted by the Daily Mirror).

Without wanting to read into a player’s words too terribly much, this is all a bit concerning. Mainly because Alexis has not been able to score consistently for Arsenal since the first half of his first season. Since that time, he must have started to lose a lot of sleep.

It has, at times, looked like a downward spiral. The more he tries to score and fails, the more frustrated he gets. Therefore he tries harder and harder, leading to more frustrations. Not just for him, but for Arsenal.

By that standard, one of two things needs to happen or Alexis is going to drill himself into the ground at Arsenal. Either he needs to focus more on the offensive side or he needs to accept that scoring isn’t always going to happen. That, or Wenger can play him at striker, but we know that isn’t going to happen.

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Neither one of the scenarios seems particularly likely. First, let’s address the idea that he focus more on the offensive side. To do that, you essentially eliminate a lot of what makes Alexis who he is. His work rate has always balanced out poor performances. and it should continue to. Plus, why would Wenger ever encourage Alexis to slow his roll on the defensive side when it was a major point last season that everyone on the team needs to be defending?

So we can eliminate that option. The second option is less, less likely, as in more likely, but still less likely. Was that confusing enough? Convincing Alexis that not scoring is okay is also probably a losing endeavor. He has not overcome the mentality that he can single-handily keep the team afloat. In his first half season, that is what he did, and the club’s dependency is clearly still weighing on his psyche.