Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez Should Follow Arsene Wenger

Alexis Sanchez is quickly entrenching himself as Arsenal’s number nine, following the advice  and earning the praises of Arsene Wenger.

Against West Ham United, Arsenal were very nearly back to their scintillating best. While there were frustrations in the first half with the side’s bluntness in the final third, their lack of ruthlessness clearly hurting their chances, ultimately, the five goal thrashing showed far more positives than negatives.

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What was particularly pleasing was the fluency in their passing and their movement off the ball. Without Santi Cazorla, so far this season, Arsene Wenger has seen his team struggle greatly with a lack of creativity and flair.

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However, that was not the case on Saturday, with much of the praise rightly going to striker Alexis Sanchez for spearheading such an impressive display. Wenger himself was enamoured with his star striker’s performance, stating that he has all the skills to excel in a central role after spending the majority of his career as a winger:

"“Look, he has all the ingredients to be a top -class striker and he shows that now in every game. In a game like that today, again he is quick, he is quick to close down, he can dribble, he has short backlift. He has the qualities to play there, he has good movement, he is sharp. Maybe size-wise you could say he is not the tallest, but he is quite good in the air when he goes for it.”"

It was a scintillating display from the Chilean, showcasing the best of his wondrous ability. His touch, while in the first half was inconsistent, improved throughout the 90 minutes, his speed and agility in tight areas were phenomenal while the finishes for the three goals were equally wonderful.

Sanchez is a crucial member of the Arsenal squad and has now seemingly entrenched himself as the regular centre-forward. There has been much debate between the uses of both him and Olivier Giroud, the man who has shouldered the responsibility of leading the line in recent seasons, but if Sanchez’s recent form is anything to go by, then such debate is quickly coming to an end.

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Wenger has made a career of identifying individual talents and attributes within players and then harnessing such abilities in new systems and positions, and is once again reaping the benefits of making a positional change with Alexis Sanchez.