Alexis Sanchez

[kaz7]

Not as good as Sane, but better than Jesus on the Left.

Gabby used to play on the left a lot in brazil,bernie is not a winger and it's an entire waste of time him playing there

 

[cleavers]

He really did. He also had poor games in the cup games.

He needs games, and I think he'll get another against West Ham and possibly Shaktar, so hopefully that will be enough for him and Bernardo Silva to get up to speed, because right now for all their talent and skill, the team performance has dropped with either of them in there.

The team performance has dropped in those games because 5 or 6 changes have been made to the first 11, its not just because of those 2, I said it last week, 1 or 2 changes done surgically, and there is little or no drop off, and it integrates them into the whole collective.

 

[squirtyflower]

Gabby used to play on the left a lot in brazil,bernie is not a winger and it's an entire waste of time him playing there

Exactly this

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

I think h will stay until the end of the season now, I can't see why Arsenal would risk losing 4th spot for the sake of £25 million.

Sanchez seems to have out his disappointment behind him and is finding some form again.

Hopefully he plays a blinder on Sunday against the rags at weekend.

It will only be on FIFA then, as the match is Saturday ;-)

 

[mccity]

Gabby used to play on the left a lot in brazil,bernie is not a winger and it's an entire waste of time him playing there

I mean neither's really right for wingplay at City. The way we play relies on more 'traditional' wingers. Neither of those two can really cut it for us in that sense.




HOWEVER. Before people knock Jesus or Bernardo as wingers, I'd like to see how they do in the role with Mendy back. When Mendy played we didn't need to rely on our wingers for width and players like Sterling and Bernardo flourished in the brief period (Feyenoord + Watford games). If Mendy was fit and playing I'd wager we'd be seeing Sane A LOT more on the right wing too.

So with regards to Sanchez we have to think ahead and he still fits in superbly to what we're aiming for, especially with Mendy about. He also provides us with a hugely different option and they'll be games where his abilities are better than whatever we've got.

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

I don't think there is a need for 'traditional' wingers, as such, in our style of play. We rely heavily on possession, close control, movement off the ball as much as on it, and the ability of players to always have more than one pass outlet when they have the ball. In this way we have the ball for over two thirds of the game and opposing teams spend much of each game camped in their own half. It is our passing rather than our running that stretches the opposition and they have to be suckered out for us to get clean strikes in. I think opponents are beginning to find this out for themselves which has made us work harder for our wins of late, and the number of goal efforts that are recorded as 'blocked' are testimony to that.

 

[mccity]

I don't think there is a need for 'traditional' wingers, as such, in our style of play. We rely heavily on possession, close control, movement off the ball as much as on it, and the ability of players to always have more than one pass outlet when they have the ball. In this way we have the ball for over two thirds of the game and opposing teams spend much of each game camped in their own half. It is our passing rather than our running that stretches the opposition and they have to be suckered out for us to get clean strikes in. I think opponents are beginning to find this out for themselves which has made us work harder for our wins of late, and the number of goal efforts that are recorded as 'blocked' are testimony to that.

Pep's philosophy is at its core maximizing the pitch in order to create space. Part of this is hugely reliant on having width. The game at Chelsea was probably the best example of this in action. Without Mendy, we can't play with fullbacks who can bomb on and provide that width (Walker and Danilo can play this way but we need Mendy for the symmetry).

So it comes down to the wingers to provide said width. This is where 'traditional' comes in. Inside wingers will keep cutting inside and without the fullbacks to overlap and provide the width the area within which we play becomes really compressed and teams can set up more compactly. Our game isn't as reliant on passing or running as it is on positioning (it's still hugely reliant on both nonetheless); our ability to stretch the game is what set the foundations to play our speedy passing game. So as far as width is concerned we need players that more closely resemble old school 'traditional' wingers than the modern inside winger.


Maybe traditional isn't the right word, I think the reason I put it in inverted commas is because I don't believe it's the best fit. To be clear what I mean by 'traditional; is a winger who plays on his natural side that has the pace and dribbling ability to stretch teams, whether or not he plays the conventional style associated with the role.


I apologise to anyone reading if this makes no sense, I'm a bit sleep deprived due to Ashes fever haha

 

[kaz7]

Mind the cloggers alexis and don't get injured

 

[domalino]

Against Southampton we lacked width.

Sanchez doesn't give us width, he's a right footed player who comes inside constantly. Anyone who's seen Arsenal play knows he's an inverted winger who comes inside, not like Sané at all.

A much better solution to the "no Sané problem" would be an attacking LB in January. Pep has already said the reason we're struggling is the lack of Mendy...replacing Mendy is the solution.

A good attacking fullback means we have width on the left, and Jesus-Aguero-Sterling works fine then. Also stops us from relying 100% on Delph's fitness.

 

[neel]

How did he play today