Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez Still Needed In Midfield Role

Arsenal witnessed another offensive capitulation where Alexis had to do everything. Clearly this man is still needed in the midfield.

Arsenal‘s form against Burnley was skeptical. After wheeling out all the stars against Basel in midweek, I expected a bit of a let off because of tiredness, but what we saw against Burnley was probably a combination of that and the winning formula being cut off in its supply lines.

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Alexis up front has its perks. We have seen those perks. But it is in moments like those against Burnley where it really looks somewhat questionable and begs for a Plan B. When teams sit back and welcome pressure, Alexis can often look flustered to the point that he has to drop into the midfield.

He also drops into the midfield when things aren’t going his way because he wants touches on the ball. When he is relying on other people to get him the ball and get him chances and they fail in that endeavor, he seeks to create them himself.

It was painfully obviously that Alexis was doing everything. Walcott had himself a few good moments, but the numbers tell you everything you need to know. The Gunner’s as a unit created 15 chances. Eight came from Alexis.

That is more than a bit lopsided and it’s so easy to see what went wrong.

As mentioned, the supply lines were cut. Ozil was rendered ineffective and, as the hub through which all the lines run, that severs everything. Walcott was largely isolated and Xhaka and Cazorla often had to bypass the German in order to get into the offense.

Alexis saw this happening. He saw the snag in his ball supply and instead of letting it continue to fail, he dropped back and plugged the gap, taking over Ozil’s role for him and becoming the chief supplier.

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That’s well and good except for the fact that it vacates the front of the formation and leaves Arsenal in that ever-precarious situation of having no striker. It’s a situation that needs fixing and I don’t think that just letting it be is the way to fix it.

My solution is pretty simple and I thought it would be simple to implement as well. Alexis is fantastic up front and I love to see the way this offense works with him up there, but there are times where I think it would be beneficial to drop him back into midfield and put another striker in up front.

Like what should have happened against Burnley, had we had another striker available.

If Giroud could have come on in the 60th minute and let Alexis assume that supplier role without the obvious risks, suddenly the threat to the Claret’s defense is tenfold. They have to worry about the new width that Alexis brings as well as the aerial threat that the Frenchman is equipped with.

If not Giroud, then Lucas. But we can’t just accept that the striker role is going to be vacant in order to let Alexis saunter back and do his midfield thing. Let him do his midfield thing while supplying a new striker.

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There is still plenty to gain from Alexis playing in the midfield. I hope it is not completely abandoned.