Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez struggle a satisfying situation

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was part of an Alexis Sanchez swap deal. Whilst Mkhitaryan is casually finding his feet at Arsenal, Alexis Sanchez seems to be stalling. It is, I’ll be honest, rather satisfying to see.

Alexis Sanchez made his switch to Manchester United over the January transfer window, involving a straight swap for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has had a positive start to life in North London, very public and controversial.

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast right here

For Mkhitaryan, whilst the results have not all been as positive as a team, his personal record is good, scoring two goals and assisting five, with three of the assists coming in a dramatic 5-1 win over Everton. Up north, United have had a run of decent results as a team, but Sanchez has only managed to contribute one goal and two assists.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Evident from the game against Liverpool, it seemed something is missing at United for Alexis. During his 90-minute appearance in the game, Sanchez managed to make a total of 28 passes, finding himself going deep into the midfield in order to get a touch of the ball. He also registered no shots during the game, and only managed 2 shots against Crystal Palace the week before. This is significantly less than his time as a Gunner.

At Arsenal, players would look for the pass to the Chilean, and would then let the former Barcelona star do his magic. With United, it was noticeable that the players didn’t put Sanchez as a priority and would look for another option.

Watching both the Liverpool vs United game and the United vs Palace game, it was clear that the world-class talent that was single-handedly lifting Arsenal and getting them through some games was not the same player at United. With the Red Devils, he only manages to produce brilliant moments and passes in a game, but has yet to boss a game entirely from start to finish. At least he only costs a meagre £350,000-a-week, eh?

This puts a smile on my face. I know Sanchez deserved better than what is he was getting at Arsenal, and parts of me still love him as he did do many great things in a red and white jersey, but his stubborn behaviour during his final few days and weeks in North London as a Gunner was as offputting as his brilliance was endearing. I, like many others, had had enough.

Perhaps this proves that Arsenal and Arsene Wenger can indeed produce a world-class player. Yes, he was good at Barcelona, but it’s obvious his most prominent time as a player was playing alongside Mesut Ozil and under the watchful eye of Arsene Wenger, managing to register more than 75 passes in some games and having close to 10 shots a game on some occasions. These kind of stats are what allowed him to score a whopping 80 goals in 165 appearances.

Next: Arsenal Vs Watford: 5 things we learned

Maybe it’s Jose Mourinho’s defensive style which is restricting Sanchez, but it’s very comforting to know he isn’t having the impact that was predicted. It almost goes to show as a “Told ya so!” to the Chilean.