Alexis Sanchez ready to show Man City what they're missing - or is it the other way around?

Aditya Devavrat 00:20 05/11/2017
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  • On the face of it, Manchester City aren’t really missing Alexis Sanchez. (Can you miss something you never had?)

    Having failed to complete the signing of the Chilean in the summer, City have gone on to tear the league apart without him, scoring 35 goals in 10 league games so far this season. They’ve got a five-point lead at the top of the table and they’re nine points clear of Sanchez’s Arsenal side, whom they entertain on Sunday.

    Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane have six league goals each, while Raheem Sterling – for whom Arsenal proposed a swap deal in order to facilitate Sanchez’s move – has seven. Pep Guardiola‘s decision to flat-out refuse to include Sterling is clearly paying dividends. The Englishman has chipped in with two assists, as well, while Jesus has one and Sane has five.

    And then, of course, there’s Sergio Aguero, with his seven league goals and three assists.

    Sanchez has one goal and two assists in seven appearances this season. Per 90 minutes, his goal (0.20 vs 0.40) and assist (0.40 vs 0.41) stats are down in comparison to last season, although he is actually creating more chances. It’s not even as if the drop-off can be attributed to the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette, because until a couple of weeks ago the duo hadn’t been on the pitch together.

    More than just the numbers, Sanchez just doesn’t look like the player from last season. He hasn’t been the all-conquering force he was for Arsenal in the previous campaign, when it seemed like it was only his efforts that were keeping the team afloat.

    A frustrated Sanchez has a point to prove against Manchester City.

    A frustrated Sanchez has a point to prove against Manchester City.

    So why would City want him?

    On pure talent, of course, Sanchez is one of the best players in the league, if not in Europe. But the Jesus-Sterling-Sane frontline has been so devastatingly effective for City, with or without Aguero. Indeed, Guardiola is comfortable enough to rest or drop Aguero because of his youthful trio (Sterling is the oldest – and he’s only 22), and the Argentine is in the same strata of players as Sanchez.

    So it’s fair to ask, would the Chilean really improve City?

    There is a sense that Sanchez is at his best when he’s the main man. Certainly, that’s how he’s thrived at Arsenal, and at Udinese, where then-manager Francesco Guidolin made him the focal point of the team.

    Conversely, he struggled (by his own high standards) to have the same impact when he was one of many at Barcelona, where he had one excellent season sandwiched by two middling ones – with caveats: injuries and the arrival of Neymar limiting his playing time.

    But if he does move to City next summer, he’ll be in a similar situation to what he faced at Barcelona, and under the same manager.

    Guardiola might be an admirer of Sanchez’s but the same issue will exist: the league leaders have many outstanding attacking players, and Sanchez won’t have a team that’s built around his strengths and where he’s the focal point.

    So if he wants to make a point to his potential employers on Sunday, showing that he has to carry Arsenal might not be the best way to do it. That’s not to say he shouldn’t try to take over the game if that’s what Arsene Wenger‘s side needs on the day. But everyone knows he can score a cracking goal and generally thrive when the play is going through him.

    What’s more important for him to display is a willingness to buy into a team ethos. Lead his teammates through his actions, by encouraging them rather than showing his frustrations, by abandoning his “woe is me” look that surfaces whenever Arsenal struggle in a game and by playing to the team’s strategy rather than trying to do everything on his own – until the moment it’s absolutely necessary.

    He needs to play like he’s the best player on a very good team. Not like he’s miles better than his teammates, he knows it, and he’s sick of it. Because he won’t be if he moves to City.

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