Official: Alexis Sanchez joins Arsenal

4312 does seem to make sense in terms of getting the best out of Sanchez and Ozil.. but I can't see Wenger going for it..

But... Ozil, Wilshere and Ramsey operating in free flowing central midfield roles could be orgasmic.. With Sanchez and Walcott/Giroud offering width up front. Khedira certainly wouldn't work though.

Narrow formations always look good, but in reality going in narrow like that in the Premier League, where every team use wingers and several push their full backs forward on top of that, is just asking for trouble. To prevent 2v1s down the sides, you'll need the two side CMs to shuffle over to the flanks, but that in turn leaves the DM alone and would require the AM to drop back, and that's not something you want Ozil to be doing. Only way to defend otherwise is to keep the ball so much the opposition spends the majority of the game in their own half, or to press high so they can't leave it.

Offensively, sure, you'd get our better players in their preferred area of the pitch, but concentrating them doesn't necessarily get the best out of them. The formation is dependant on the fullbacks for width; without it those central players won't shine.

4-2-3-1 is the best formation we could use, I think. Ozil gets to play in a role where he doesn't have to defend much, whereas Sanchez can easily play a free role from the flanks that allows him to drift into central areas or go beyond the forward. Neither of the central midfield roles change, so Ramsey can shine again, and it's relatively simple to transition into a defensive shape as you just drop the wide players back. Sanchez has such a great work ethic that we wouldn't have a problem with doing that.

Yea pretty much that.

I can't remember Arsene ever using a formation which didn't have wide players. 4-3-1-2 will more or less become 4-3-3 with false 9.

Well if we are going to break it down to the tee.. I think it would be more like 433 w/false 9 and/or 4132 in attack.. 4321 in defence.

It's true that that CMs will be drawn wide. But when one CM is drawn wide, the DM and opposing CM shift to make a flat 2. Ozil wouldn't have inordinate defensive duties if the system is played correctly.

Problem is it just requires a high level of defensive discipline and tactical intelligence.. which I'm not sure we have in Ramsey and Wilshere. I agree that its not PL friendly.. not just for lack of width but also because its not usually conducive with high tempo.

Anyway in a nutshell I agree that Wenger probably won't go for it.. but I don't agree that it "can't work".. we've seen a resurgence of the 352 which many would scoff at years ago.. With Van Gaal at United that trend may continue.. We'll see.

I was looking over some GL comments about Alexis in the past ... many Barca fans were not happy with him by the spring of 2013 (end of his second Barca season), said he was a horrendous finisher and sub-par passer. But then again, this was before he went on to have his best-ever scoring/assists season and then an impressive World Cup.

Also, some fluff. Laia Grassi at the beach, and Alexis will have English lessons twice a week. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2693128/Alexis-Sanchez-hits-beach-girlfriend-Laia-Grassi-Arsenal-training.html

Chumlum wrote:I was looking over some GL comments about Alexis in the past ... many Barca fans were not happy with him by the spring of 2013 (end of his second Barca season), said he was a horrendous finisher and sub-par passer. But then again, this was before he went on to have his best-ever scoring/assists season and then an impressive World Cup.

Alexis was made a scapegoat by many fans in his first season for the gazillions of missed chances (by Barca as a whole, not just Alexis) against Chelsea.





Then the following season after Pep quit he started 12/13 in horrendous fashion. Like REALLY horrendous. His first goal in the league came in the 23th (!) match day in February in a 6-1 trashing of Getafe. During that period he produced some of the worst finishes I have ever seen from a Barca player. I mean his confidence must have been at an all-time low. He kept slipping infront of the empty net, that's how bad it was. See here:



Was really awful to watch. Towards the end of the same season he gradually improved however. In the last 11 games he scored 8 goals and he didn't stop in the new season.

In 13/14 his longest goal drought in the league were 3 matches until the 28th match day. Producing some absolute belters like this one against Real Madrid in the process:



Or Atletico Madrid:



Ultimately I would say the truth is somewhere in between. He is neither as horrible as in that period of 2013 when he was doing his best poor man's Heskey impression and Barca fans wanted him teared and feathered. But neither is he a consistent goal threat as his stats from last season would suggest. He is more of a playmaking winger / SS who needs his freedom and can occasionally chip in a few goals if he isn't the main focal point upfront. Scorer of great goals, not a great goalscorer.

You will absolutely love his attitude by the way. He runs non-stop. He could've faltered during his horrendous spell at Barca but he kept working and improved so much to the point that he was now regarded as one of the standout performers of the World Cup. That speaks for him. Washing DEM cars as a kid paid off.

in addition to above post, this is well worth a read as well
http://www.barcelonafootballblog.com/19142/alexis-sanchez-problem-aka-nature-nurture/

Cheers, thanks for the info guys. I remembered Alexis coming in for a lot of criticism a while back, that's why I specifically trudged through a few old GL threads to re-acquaint myself with some of the issues. I didn't know he was considered by some to have had a bad season ... I thought his was a case of "sophomore slump."

Anyway. The phrase "freelance hellraiser" is fantastic.

Michael Cox on Alexis for the dot com.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20140722/alexis-sanchez

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2707297/Alexis-Sanchez-risen-playing-barefoot-poverty-stricken-Chilean-mining-town-Arsenal-s-30m-signing-light-Premier-League.html

Wow, quite sad tale of his childhood.

Here's another piece by Michael Cox on Alexis, this one for ESPN FC, where he talks (with optimism) about the player's versatility in attack:

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/tactics-and-analysis/67/post/1973326/versatility-is-alexis-sanchezs-greatest-weapon

By the end of the season, though, Alexis should be Arsenal's first-choice centre-forward...

Think it's fantastic Alexis is up there in terms of contribution to goals when he's played all across the front rather than as a lone striker for the majority of the season, hence his creative stats being superior to Aguero's.

Wenger said, “He wants to play, he’s so keen!

“He wants to play of course. He’s very keen and thinks he can even defy the medical people.”
“I don’t know yet. I need medical advice on that and need as well to see what he can do in training.”

----

And then you have others who defy medical advice by smoking repeatedly

save us Alexis
God Bless

Says he'll proably get a tattoo if Arsenal win the league this year.

been 2 years since he joined

Games: 93
Goals: 42
Assists: 23

That is impressive.

Total frakking beast.

See that, Wenger? See what happens when you spend 40m on a class player?

DO YOU SEE DAT