Arsene Wenger says that the versatility of Alexis Sanchez was a big consideration when purchasing the Chilean for £30m this summer.
The Arsenal manager told the official site that the former Barcelona man can play as a central striker, with the likes of Olivier Giroud, but hinted that in the absence of Theo Walcott – still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury – he could be deployed wide on the right in the initial stages of his Arsenal career.
“At the moment he might play on the flank because Walcott is injured,” said the boss.
“He can play through the middle, he can play on both flanks and he has the qualities that I think are needed in England. He’s brave, works hard and all these qualities together made me go for him.”
The manager is obviously considering all options when it comes to Sanchez, saying, “As well he can play through the middle in some games; we can play with Giroud, we can play without Giroud in a 4-4-2 or in a 4-3-3.
“That’s why he is a major signing for us, that’s why we spent a lot of money on him. He has the quality to be efficient everywhere he plays.”
Although he won’t be making the trip to New York for next week’s friendly against New York Red Bulls, Sanchez could play a part in the Emirates Cup the following weekend, giving Arsenal fans their first glimpse of the summer’s biggest signing to date.
With walcott out it makes sense to give a start in a more familiar RW role, especially when adjusting to england
We do know that wenger is one of , if not the best out turning decent wingers into world class strikers.
Cant wait to see him play in the arsenal red!
Henry is the obvious one. Which other decent wingers have been converted into world class strikers?
Robin Van Persie.
Who ?
There are others, but really, mentioning Henry is simply enough to qualify Arsène’s ability.
Van Persie.
I forgot he played for Arsenal
The dutch skunk
Van Cuntface
RvP a.k.a the dutch skunk
The dutch fellow from Feyenoord, played on the left wing at Rotterdam. Can’t remember his name though.
You mean the one that was accused of rape but AFC stood by him as soon as he told them he was innocent. I can’t remember his name but I do remember he showed much less loyalty to the club than we showed to him!
and Theo this season
Well, it wasn’t Arsene who did it, but there was this one guy who Alexis even played with at Barca, used to be a right winger, now widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world…
” Henry… Chance… Goal ! ” my best Arsenal moment. Pure class.
Wenger is the best! Remember Henry?
Who?
Educate yourself fool!
Wingers are just strikers that don’t know it yet!
Daily mail just revealed that member of Arsenal’s coaching staff was one pouring alcohol down wilshere’s throat.
They also say that he is very close to pissing his career away like Paul Gascoigne.
Have to say I’ve never liked them but I agree with them in this instance.
“it makes sense to give a start in a more familiar RW role, especially when adjusting to england
We do know that wenger is one of , if not the best out turning decent wingers into world class strikers.”
1. He’s already played as a striker frequently for Udinese and the Chilean national team.
2. As such, Wenger won’t have to turn him into anything, he’s already there.
Theo, Giroud, Sanchez…pace, power, skill. Can’t wait for next season! COYG!
I would say more like:
Theo – Pace
Giroud – Power
Sanchez – Pace, Power, Skill.
if you merge all of them together, you’ll get Thierry Henry
And just like Thierry did so many times, I can’t wait for Sanchez to smash the ball into the top corner of Sp*rs’ net.
That’s Rosicky’s job, the current chief tormentor of Sp*rs.
And if you merge henry with all three you get Bergkamp.
Hallowed be his name
one reason we bought him is because he didn’t have Barca DNA
I am sure the way Fabregas saga has culminated will ensure that no one ever has Barca’s DNA in him
Now it makes more sense why Wenger didn’t buy Cesc back…he knew the money would be better spent on a player like Alexis. Still would like to have Cesc but not at the expense of Alexis.
“Sanchez could play a part in the Emirates Cup the following weekend, giving Arsenal fans their first glimpse of the summer’s biggest signing to date.”
Yes! Ours to lose this year! 2 trophies in 3 months #COYG
Could be three! don’t forget the community shield ;P
“2 trophies in 3 months ” plus one Community Shield 🙂
I like that line at the end. Biggest Signing “till date”. New Found Arrogance…:)… V have signed 2 and its not even July End.
I can’t wait to see Sanchez leading the line, not out wide.
Before last season if you wanted two World Class players in the Bergkamp/Henry mould. You couldn’t have got a lot closer than Özil/Sanchez!!
__________Szczesny
Debuchy PerMert KingKos Gibbs
_______The Ox Ramsey
______Walcott Özil Cazorla
__________Sanchez
really, of all other options, The OX as DM? why not play him as a GK.
Because every time he plays in goal Gibbs gets sent off?
Fantastic reply. To quote Jenks we should ‘banter off’ Chelsea this year and play the OX in goal
BEST
REPLY
EVER!!!!!!!!!
You have just won the comments for all time.
Might just be the best reply ever. You my friend have won at life.
Sanchez has never really done well as the lone forward in a 4-2-3-1, he can only really play centrally in a 4-3-3 which obviously means one of the midfielders has to drop out.
He’d probably only play as the central striker with at least one of Walcott or Podolski close to him, so that’s more like an asymmetrical 4-2-2-2 than a true 4-2-3-1.
Which is sort of how they did it at Udinese, with Alexis partnering Di Natale in a 3-5-2 or 3-5-1-1 formation.
Aye sure, but just pointing out his certainly not the type of player than can easily play as a lone forward – he needs people close to him if his going to play there and the typical 4-2-3-1 does not always give you that.
Chile v England in November, played centrally in what was close to a lone striker role and dominated the game.
I honestly think Giroud needs support and not replacement in the 1st XI. I think as the season goes on others can lead the line for some games and provide us with a variety of options against different opposition. I just really like the way he integrates the other forwards into play, even if his finishing is not the most economical. 20+ goals a season is not a bad turnover at all, considering his assists and the physicality he brings to the team. Not to mention i find he has a great attitude and works hard. Sprinting back to defend… Read more »
Aye, the problem was never that Giroud was playing as striker but that he was our ONLY striker (aside from Sanogog, who I actually think could be great at some point but not now).
We’ll keep him more fresh this season, and give him more players to play around him and feed off him, job’s a good ‘un.
Of all a striker’s attributes, finishing is probably the easiest to improve too (see adebayor, drogba). A lot more difficult to teach positional awareness, desire to get into the box or the ability to hold up/ link up. I think Giroud’s performance against Napoli (and other games pre Christmas at which point he looked knackered) was one of the best from an arsenal striker I’ve seen in a long, long time. He’s gonna surprise a lot of people this year.
——————————–Szczesny———————————Debuchy——–Koscielny——Mertesacker——-Gibbs
————————Arteta————-Ramsey——————–
Sanchez———————–Ozil————————–Oxlade ———————————–Giroud———————————-
1st game line up? Bit of OCD kicking in there ; )
3 goal keepers?? We haven’t signed them yet…
I can assure you, that is anything but OCD.
Means we need another striker. Don’t want to run Giroud into the ground in the early stages of the season especially after the World Cup.
Let’s not forget Campbell which I rate highly…he’s got pace, determination, and doesn’t disappear in big games. I think he’ll come good for us.
I really hope so too.
Remy is being linked with us again but what chances? Arseblog poo-ometer required
This needs to die a death already.
Sanchez can you please punish Man shitty, liverpoop, and chelski for last seasons humiliation. Guess who`s peeing in their pants now!!!
Yes Wenger! Bring back 4-4-2! It made the difference in the final thanks to Yaya’s crazy movement, it can make the difference in any game with Giroud & Alexis combining.
Worked well against a tiring 3 man back line – where would Ozil fit into a 4-4-2 if you played it all the time?
Perhaps the gentleman is not suggesting that they play it all the time, just some of the time.
Ozil should be given role of FREE SPIRIT…Like the role of the guy with BarcaShit DNA
Surely he would fit into a midfield diamond? ozil in behind the strikers, then walcott on the right and pod/santi on the left.
Leaving Ramsey to hold down the entire midfield by himself? He’s good but he’s not that…screw it, he probably is.
maybe against weak teams it could work – certainly later in a game when a side is getting tired – but if they start out like that the counter attacks will rip them to shreds! The side showed last season they can be vulnerable against the better sides countering quickly after winning the ball in the middle
Worked to an extent against Wigan in the semi too.
“Summer’s biggest signing to date.”
Someone’s feeling optimistic this morning!
Don’t think we will buy another striker. Although Balotelli is available on the cheap now…
Couldn’t you call yourself GusHelder or something like that?
Would still like to see a better striker than Giroud come in. I’ve seen that tongue come out after missed chances way too many times. Wenger should show he means serious business and go for Falcao, there’s not many better natural no 9’s. It would be game over
Falcao’s annual earnings at Monaco have been reported to be €14 million. By my reckoning, an English club would need to pay him about £390,000 per week to match that.
That’s where Arsene’s seduction techniques come into it
He would be costly, plus I’m not srue there are many stirkers better than Giroud at what we need him to do. Just about everyone who is a better finisher than him can’t provide the physical presence, or would be unwilling to work so hard and those who would provide it aren’t notablky better finishers.
I give him the benefit of the doubt, as his goalscoring was good early season but with things to improve on (which we’re apparently trying to help him with), but when he started running out of steam it went a bit wonky.
Falcao, at least to me, seems like a Suarez/Aguero type of striker. If need be, Sanchez has all the physical and technical attributes to replicate such a role at AFC. I’d go for Remy to be honest. Decent striker, wouldn’t mind being back up to Giroud as that’s what he basically does for the French National Team and he wouldn’t cost a whole lot. There aren’t many players out there who are better than Olivier. If City could be convinced then Edin Dzeko would be my absolute pick among the gettable strikers in todays market.
Nah Falcao is not like those to, he does not link up play and can’t do that much with his back to goal. What he can do is get onto pretty much every throw ball and take the chance, plus his pretty damn good in the air for attack crosses (again he does not put that much into link up play at all).
The presence of Sanchez anywhere on the pitch makes playing Arsenal a more difficult prospect for the opponent. I see teams strategies start and end on just how to stop him. Just play him anywhere – flank or centre.
He wil be perfect up front.
Makes perfect sense and if he performs well in that role it will push Walcott on to new heights when he returns. What I like about the Sanchez signing is it keeps teams second guessing how we are going to line up which hasn’t been the case in the past two seasons. I feel that against the better teams particularly away from home was detrimental as they always knew what to expect.
Fucking great point there Bud, wow. Ssoh, fucking true. The point though is that it could actually bring out Arsene’s side of him which the fans find sohhh fucking frustrating. He at times can become a bit stagnant in the tactics department. Lets see how he manages to take teams apart with the tools he now has. Exciting times, only if he gets it right relative to the opposition. Even more importantly, would be to keep everyone happy. How does he now do that, with a thin squad it’s easy. With depth we will really see his managerial capabilities come… Read more »
Wenger hints at Sanchez wide on
wide on.
just that is worth repeating
For those talking about strikers, I saw a picture of good old Super Mario Balotelli outside what seems like the Arsenal store. Any meat to this story?
I would suggest it is more to do with Puma than Arsenal
There are a couple of cropped pictures floating around but the original shows Ballotelli & WAG holding plastic bags with the Puma Logo on them. Which would point to it being a Puma shop rather than an Arsenal shop (unless anybody can confirm that the Arsenal shops have bags with a massive Puma logo on them?)
Yeah it was a puma shop, who were advertising the new Arsenal link-up. As we all know, he is sponsored by Puma so the photo isn’t all that special.
Pace on the flanks automatically puts opposing full backs on the back foot, they are scared to push forward. This keeps them out of midfield and could mean the defensive line is 5-10yards deeper than it would have been. Creating more space in midfield. But I think having him as a central option is good too. Think of how many ‘easy’ goals we got from TH14 simply due to him just being quicker than the defenders he was up against. We’ve never had that since. So some pace through the middle is essential, whether it comes via Sanchez, Campbell or… Read more »
Looking forward to seeing Joel Campbell in pre-season… There’s something about him… If Arsenal do decide to loan him out l hope it will be to a PL side..
We shouldn’t even think of loaning him out. He will play, chances are we will play him on the left, instead of on the right, as an inverted winger. I actually hope could be a great understudy to Podolski.
Look forward to seeing him on Members Day
Sanchez signing means we sre now more effective on the counter too, which makes the difference against the big teams. Opportunities are hard to come by against the likes of Citeh, Chavski, and Liverpoo, especially in the away games. Having two pacy players in Walcott and Sanchez means counterattacks become more likely and more effective as we can get two men up the field in a short space of time.
Obviously the addition of Sanchez is a mouthwatering prospect. I have no doubt he will show a lot of defenders their arse! What worries me, and I know it’s still early in the window for Wenger, is the lack of a real second striker. I like Giroud but there’s no doubting that a Balotelli or Remy would add much needed impetus to our front line. I mention them two because they’ve been linked and are both (apparently) under £15 mil. We need another striker..
Balotelli is a) not coming for less than £15m b) a disruptive, irritating twat and c) has managed to convince people of this incredible potential despite never having actually done anything. I just don’t get the appeal of him, we’ve finally got a good, seemingly stable dressing room and people want a bloke that sets off fireworks from his bathroom?! The press have a fucking field day with Wilshere having a quick puff of his mates cig, imagine what they’d do with him! Remy for £8-10m makes sense if and only if Campbell and Sanogo go out on loan. Yet… Read more »
Campbell is a winger, Sanches can play centrally, So that means we have two and a half Strikers. I see the appeal of having three Strikers. More depth. We should just get that striker. Like a young Falcoa. Or a younger taller pacier Gazola.
Would love to see us go in for Cavani… That would really make our attack every bit as dangerous as Citeh, Chelski and the like all across Europe.
i agree. i think cavani would be ideal, not counting his poor world cup.
but it will never happen
__________Szczesny
Debuchy PerMert KingKos Gibbs
_______Khadiera/Bender Ramsey
______Walcott Özil Sanchez
__________Balotelli
Premier/Champions League Winners!!! COYG
Balotelli please. I want that to be true more than any other signing. Not only do I love his utterly individual personality, he is probably going to be one of the great strikers. Give him three fireproof bathrooms, keys to Holloway prison, Walcott and Sanchez on the flanks, a thousand blank tshirts, and a stencil kit.
Best Starting XI for now:
——-Szczesny——-
Deb Per Kos Gib
Arteta Ramsey
Sanchez Özil Cazorla
Giroud
prefer the Ox to Santi – can’t see Ozil and Santi together like that. I thought that caused some of our problems last season, doesn’t balance
Without the runners, it was a little imbalanced but with Rambo back in and Sanchez out wide I think it’ll be less of an issue.
Plus, if you’re a d efender and you’re used to Santi being tricky and triying to use skill to pass you for most of the game and suddenly you have the Ox running at you, that could create some chances when we really need them.
You need Walcott in there.
Last week, we signed Sanchez. This week it was Debuchy. Who is it going to be next week? Best summer in a long time
Wow, this season is already exciting!
I´m just praying to the Gods of Football and Injustice that Capt´n Jack sorts himself out. No partying in Vegas while players like Ramsey (already better than Jack) is killing himself on the training pitch and is solely focusing on his performance.
Yes, I know that Jack was in Brazil, but he hardly played and poor old England got the early boot. This is no Jack bashing, I adore him and want him to be our future captain and legend, but we need to ask more of him..
personally I thought Jack played badly last season. His decision making was off as was his ball control. His temperament is also immature. He has potential but when is that going to develop into something more solid. and reliable?
I have to agree. I’m not really worried about him because of a photo here or there, but he’s getting older, past the point where he’s still simply a talent. I know his numbers improved slightly last season, but he’s got players like Ramsey ahead of him now. I’d love to see Wilshere “do a Ramsey”, but for some reason I’m doubtful. We just don’t see that sort of development very often. In fact, Ramsey is almost one of a kind.
Enough now with the mario guy… did you watch a different world cup?
he had a shit world cup. so did a lot of players though
Messi and Ronaldo weren’t all that great either..
Bollocks to Balotelli. Looking at Blog’s post on the squad yesterday, we’ve got to sell Miyachi, Sanogo out on on loan, Zelalem – U21’s? JC to go into the team – now or never. Agree that we need another CB & 2 GK obviously. I think we could survive in defensive mid, but would take a Bender if I could get one. So who else would get the further chop? Gnabry on loan?
Arteta v Flam, Ozil v Santi, Theo v Sanchez, Giroud v JC, Rambo v Ox, Jack v Diaby, still leaving Rosicky, Podolski and Gnabry.
Mario is world class & is only 23yrs old!! He just needs Wenger’s guidance to stop the nonsense and achieve greatness
Someone described Ibrahimovic like this: “When he was younger he’d sometimes get the red fog, and I would think ‘he’s going to get a red card’. Now when he’s pumped up like that, I’m thinking ‘the centre back is going to get a red card'”. I see the same future for Balotelli.
Who is a cunt?
Whatever happened to Eisfeld, Gnabry and Campbell? I love seeing youngsters come up through the ranks. Hope there is room for some of them.
John Terry
My team while theo out:
GK&DEF
Ramsey Flamini
Ox Ozil Sanchez
Campbell
@Nikhil…that would be a very counter-attacking side…pure speed, speed, and more speed.
He will have no problem playing on the wing and playing thru the middle as demonstrated when he scored two goals against England http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTXKfEpgmJE
He’s come off a season at Farca, had a WC in the heat and then we want him to play because TW is injured. Seems to me AS needs a break or he’ll run out of steam or get injured with fatigue and then we’ll spend most of the season with him in the physio room.
Am I alone in preferring Campbell starting on a left wing over Podolski, Cazorla, Gnabry and AOC?
Yes.
World Cup? 3 matches. Judging Balotelli on his career record not his summer performance in 3 games, where he did at least score a goal. 23 year olds hardly ever have a scoring record like his
I can see Sanchez play as a central striker but only in a 4 4 2 system. He’d struggle holding in the air I think. then again he is muscular and has more power than Walcott.
3 more positions to fill and we should challenge.
Still can’t believe we signed him
It will be interesting to see Walcott when he’s back from injury. Players often spend that time bulking up, and he is actually bigger than Sanchez to begin with, so he does have the potential to be a more physical player. In fact, Walcott has always had the potential to be a very complete player, but I suspect he’s relied so much on his speed that he hasn’t felt a need to really evolve in other ways. I know it will take a while for him to be match fit after he’s back, but I am quite excited about it… Read more »
Oh…than Central STRIKER signing is all over!? Which is expected.
I’d feel more comfortable if we had a better, more experienced back up to Giroud than Sanogo. Sanchez is an excellent player, and suits our style well, but I still think he’s a bit too light to lead our attack in a 4-3-3 if Giroud gets injured. I remember Arseblog Extra commenting on how “if Suarez can do it, so can Sanchez”, but the thing is.. Suarez is much bigger than expected. I was surprised myself when I looked it up. In fact, he’s a whooping 181cm (5ft11), which means he’s bigger than pretty much every offensive player we have.… Read more »
Can’t wait for the Chelsea game for Sanchez to hit one right on Mourinho’s jaw and hoping it never opens again. What a terrible cunt !
As I said, many are mistaken by Sanchez being able to play centrally up top. It is possible in Spain with Barca but that is a special circumstance. For Chile, he generally plays out wide and that’s with a relatively short team. Again, Sanchez is 5’7 which is an inch or so taller than Santi. The likes of Suarez (5’11) and Higuain or Sturrdige (6′) are considerably taller. Who we may see deployed as an alternate to Giroud is Campbell. Had we signed him this season off the back of a great campaign with Olympiakos and an excellent outing in… Read more »
I feel I need to correct you – 20 year old Thierry Henry finished up top scorer for France when they won the World Cup in 1998.
No Balotelli.
He is a bag of trouble and will affect the dressing room.
Why do fans keep believing everything spewed out in the media?
Remember Samba, MVilla, Wanyama, Gustavo, Kalou, Mitrogolou?
I would not mind Michu (if the price is low) to balance us out a bit. he has the height and trickery up front but can also play at LW if need be.
When we spending 30mil on players who lit the World Cup and manure are spending 35mil on players who didn’t make the Spain squad..you know we have the right people in charge..thank you David moyes and co.
On a side note..wonder what pathetic manu fans did with that ‘chosen one’ banner..what a joke!!!
Getting moist at the thought of next season