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Thoughts on Alexis Sanchez and this Ridiculous £400,000 Wage Demand
While Arsenal fans have been basking in the euphoria of the Alexandre Lacazette announcement, there is still much work to be done in the team, with more signings expected as well as the important part of sorting out the futures of some of the club’s star players with a year left on their respective contracts.
To be honest, it’s rather unfortunate to see how we got to this situation with Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Wojciech Szczesny and Matt Debuchy all left with only one year left on their contract with the club. There are certainly some players on the aforementioned list that have no futures with the club, while there are others that are regarded as indispensable to the team.
Alexis Sanchez certainly falls into the latter category and with 72 goals in 145 appearances for the club, he has risen to talismanic status in the team, especially after hitting the 30-goal mark that was a norm for the likes of goalscoring legends Ian Wright, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie before him. A player like Sanchez was expected to be in high demand and the wolves came sniffing with Bayern Munich and Manchester City reportedly interested in his services.
With Alexis contracted to the club, his primary obligation will be to honor his contract, which could make him a free agent next summer, but that leaves the club in a dilemma,
- Does Arsenal follow the Robin van Persie route and sell Sanchez to a fellow Premier League rival like Man City? or
- Will the club play hard ball and allow the lad leave on a Bosman?
The ideal scenario would have been to tied Sanchez down with a juicy new contract, but with the Metro reporting that the Chilean hotshot wants an astonishing £400,000-per-week contract to remain with the team, the situation becomes very difficult. Normally, I would take this sort of news with a pinch of salt, as the media always circulate all sorts of bullcrap to sell their content but what if it’s actually true? Why would a £140,000-per-week earner request for such a mammoth sum to hamstring the club?
If this is what is really happening, then I hope Arsenal keep him at the club for his final year of his contract, then send him packing at the summer, so that he can find his £400,000 elsewhere. It would some financial sense to take the £50m or whatever from Man City, but the backlash would be terrible from the fans and media alike. Arsenal is meant to be challenging for the Premier League this season and they stand a better chance of doing it if Sanchez remains with the club.
Like Hell, they can follow the Robert Lewandowski route and use him in the final year of his contract before allowing him go to wherever he wants. Alexis doesn’t strike me like the type that would be sulking on the pitch because he wasn’t allowed to leave to Man City. He is a professional and will be expected to do his job, which is play football for Arsenal.
I will follow this development closely and see how it pans out.
Sayonara
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Thoughts on Alexis’ Comments About Arsenal’s Mental State
Arsenal’s form in the turn of the new year has been very poor and it has been a major cause for concern.
January began with a narrow win over Newcastle before dispatching Sunderland in the FA Cup. The mid-week draw against Liverpool at Anfield was a bitter pill to swallow and it was followed by a fortunate draw against Stoke at the Britannia. Chelsea left North London with all three points but the win over Burnley in the FA Cup fourth round pleased the crowd. However, it was followed with a rather disappointing draw with Southampton, a comfortable win against struggling Bournemouth then there was that pulsating victory over Leicester that lifted the spirits and cut down the gap to two points.
Arsenal was buzzing and the fans were hopeful that things were going to turn for the best as the campaign progressed. The draw against Hull raised a few eyebrows but the Gunners still had the lottery of a replay to make things right and the match is coming up next week.
Then came the rot… starting with an expected home loss to Barcelona, where the fans were obviously disappointed with the result but couldn’t fault the performance of the players on the night. However, this has been followed up with two insipid and lackadaisical performances against Manchester United and Swansea, leaving the Gunners title hopes on a thin thread. The defeat to the Swans was more painful with the fact that Leicester, Tottenham and Man City all dropped points in the same week.
This weekend, Arsenal head to White Hart Lane for the biggest North London Derby in recent times, as both teams are currently chasing Leicester City for the Premier League trophy.
Just when you thought that the Gunners would use the fact that they were really close to Leicester City after defeating them last month as a motivation to fight till the end, the games against a weakened Manchester United and Swansea showed that the players lacked the mental fortitude to become Premier League champions. I even shared the same sentiment that Arsenal wasn’t good enough to win the title.
In a recent interview, Arsenal talisman, Alexis Sanchez, has shown his concerns about the mental state of the squad,
“I think we can win the Premier League with the players we have. That said, we lack a certain hunger. We need to step out onto the pitch as if we’re already 1-0 up.
We lack self-belief, that we can actually be champions. I remember a game against Manchester United last season. The lads looked hungry for silverware as we took to the pitch. We crushed them in the first 20 minutes and went 2-0 up. We were hungry and brimming with confidence that day.”
With perennial title favorites, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City struggling for form this season, the way was paved for Arsenal to make a statement and in Mesut Ozil and Petr Cech, the Gunners had players in good form. Ozil had amassed 16 assists in the first half of the season and Cech brought some calm to that back four, raking in clean sheets with consummate ease. In the turn of the year, Ozil has found it hard to maintain his mean streak with just two assists in his last 10 games.
Arsenal’s poor run of form has also coincided with Olivier Giroud’s barren run in front of goal. After missing a sitter against Swansea, the statisticians tell us that Giroud has clocked up 900 minutes of football without scoring a goal. When you add Theo Walcott’s anonymity in the games he plays, as well as Sanchez becoming very predictable you wouldn’t be surprised to see Arsene Wenger’s team doing badly in attack.
With injuries to Cech and Laurent Koscielny, one cannot help but the scared for what’s to come in the North London Derby. In recent weeks, Gabriel Paulista’s frailties have been badly exposed and one wonders if the manager might invest in another center back this summer.
Wenger has stated that he’s worried about his squad but he needs them to focus and return to the basics.
Let’s just hope the club’s form improves on Saturday.
Sayonara.
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Sanchez Suffers Set Back on Hamstring Injury
Did you guys enjoy the victory at Monday night?
I sure hell did, even though the climax of the game was quite scary. After having so many chances to put the game to bed, Yaya Toure scored a late goal and things became a bit scary at the end. Anxiety was the order of the day but credit to the lads for holding their nerve to see out the victory.
This season’s surprise package, Leicester City, are set to lock horns with Liverpool and Manchester City so it’s going to be very interesting to see how things pan out.
Arsenal won the game without three of its most influential players, Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin and Alexis Sanchez. While the injured central midfield duo are scheduled to return deep into 2016, Sanchez was tipped to make an appearance on the bench but we have been made to understand that he has suffered a set back in his hamstring injury and will now make his return next month.
In Alexis’ absence, Theo Walcott has taken over left wing duties and his goal against Manchester City was a peach. Joel Campbell has continued to impress while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has provided adequate cover.
Sanchez setback is a bitter pill to swallow but the Gunners are doing fine without him because they continue to play like a team.
I wish him a speedy recovery.
Sayonara
