Arsenal: Alex Iwobi suffering from a case of the Alexis Sanchez’s?

There was a collective groan when Arsenal released their starting XI with Alex Iwobi, but was the young Nigerian just suffering from a the same thing as Alexis Sanchez?

I was ready to lead the charge against Arsenal when I saw Alex Iwobi still eeking his way into a starting XI with three world class players and one, Alexandre Lacazette, left on the bench, obviously in favor of the young Nigerian.

However, seeing as how Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were both starting, I was willing to let it go with one simple tweet and deal with the rest of it after Iwobi undoubtedly dropped the ball yet again.

However, Iwobi didn’t drop the ball at all. He was, in fact, pretty stellar. While it was Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Mkhitaryan that primarily ran the show, Iwobi fell into the shadows where the likes of Hector Bellerin were, playing quietly effective football outside of the all-seeing of the Everton defense.

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Iwobi completed more dribbles than any other Arsenal player and he only lost possession one time. He also completed a massive 87% of his passes and nabbed himself an assist that, while 98% thanks to Ramsey, was still an assist.

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As the biggest naysayer in the known world, I have been asking myself why. Why is it that when you put Iwobi among more talented players, he plays like the young stud we saw nearly two years ago?

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My first thought was that maybe he has been suffering all season from a case of the Alexis Sanchez’s. You know, that sickness that steals away your quality if you aren’t around enough team mates of similar quality? Alexis apparently was fed up with having to play with so many sub-par players and that is why he left.

What if Iwobi was similarly being held back by lackluster team mates and, when thrown into a four man attack with three world class attackers, mirrored them?

It’s certainly a possibility, but I think the bigger likelihood is a combination of confidence from having so much going right around him, as well as not having so much depend on him.

In case you didn’t notice. Mkhitaryan and Ramsey ran the day. Everyone that wasn’t named Mkhitaryan or Ramsey was given much more room and, subsequently, much more confidence, to play at their absolute best.

Iwobi was a byproduct of that. And while that may sound like he was only capitalizing on a fantastic opportunity, which he was, it’s also the first step in getting him his confidence back, which is literally the only thing standing between him and stardom.

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It will be interesting to see where Arsenal go from here. I can’t imagine that this is it for Lacazette, but it’s not like anyone in this starting XI is going to be making way for him. If Iwobi has maintained his place thus far, then it would be too strange to see him dropped after one of his best performances of the year.