Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez Injury The Trial Run Of The Decade

Arsenal are likely going to be without Alexis Sanchez for a time, and as such, the Gunners are facing a definitive trial run that should be terrifying.

Arsenal’s loss at West Brom also cost them two of their most reliable players. Both Petr Cech and Alexis Sanchez had to come off earlier than planned but, naturally, it is the latter that is capturing our attention.

Mainly because the Chilean was able to carry on after half before being subbed in the second half. So the natural inclination is that it isn’t that bad. However, Arsene Wenger has said it is anything but.

“He stayed on but in the second half he was not himself. He just limped so I decided to take him off. And his ankle doesn’t look good,” he said, via Sky Sports. He expanded on that assessment later on:

“He was injured from the tackle in the first half. It was a bad tackle. His ankle is in an absolutely terrible state. He should not have played in the second half but he insisted that he wanted to come out.”

Sounds like time will be missed. Which puts Arsenal in a horrifying state.

We know that changes are coming – and soon. Most likely this summer. And one of the changes that seems pretty likely is that Alexis is moving on. His frustration is just so palpable and the lack of a supporting cast is fueling that fire.

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Being without Alexis due to injury is going to be a trial run for what the Gunners will be looking at in a future that doesn’t include the sparkplug attacker. It will be a show of the things they lack (or don’t, let’s not assume). It will show how dependent on the Chilean this club really is.

And, perhaps most notably, it will give an indication of our fight level without Alexis, who has always been the catalyst of this side’s hunger. Which is a questionable claim, since even with Alexis, this club has lacked any semblance of hunger or desire.

This should feel scary and revealing. Like being stripped naked. Not having Alexis is like taking the heart out of the body and asking it to carry on.

But you really do never know. It will test a lot of Gunners to step up and, while none have been able to thus far, the stage is still wide open and it will only get more wide opened if Alexis does have to miss significant time.

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From there, all we need is for literally anyone to step up and assert themselves rather than just chattering about how this isn’t good enough.

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