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Premier League: Alexis Sanchez Injury Fatal For Arsenal

By Sean Donnelly
Published on: 00:34 PST, Nov 30, 2015

The injury sustained by Alexis Sanchez in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw away against Norwich yesterday evening confirmed it: November is Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger’s “cruellest month” in the Premier League.

Arsenal finished October joint top of the Premier League table alongside Manchester City. They beat Manchester United, Watford, Everton, and Swansea by an aggregate score of 12-1 in the process of accruing 12 points from a possible 12 in the league and scored one of the upsets of the season by beating Bayern Munich 2-0 at home in the Champions League.

Theo Walcott’s seamless integration into the Arsenal frontline as a centre-forward gave Olivier Giroud meaningful competition for a starting spot in attack for the first time since the Frenchman arrived in North London in the summer of 2012. Mesut Ozil, meanwhile, struck upon his best form in attacking midfield since arriving from Real Madrid for a club record fee two seasons ago, and the effective partnership formed by Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla at the base of Wenger’s midfield helped to make the Gunners’ defense the joint meanest in the Premier League.

Four weeks on, the picture has gotten considerably bleaker.

While yesterday’s draw at Carrow Road has only bumped the Gunners down as far as fourth in the Premier League table and keeps them within two points of leaders Manchester City, it does leave them winless in three, and the fixture entailed grave collateral damage for Wenger’s side.

Not only did central defensive lynchpin Laurent Koscielny limp off with a spasm in his right hip after eight minutes, left-back Kieran Gibbs was ruled out with an injury on Friday and Wenger confirmed at full-time that Spain midfielder Cazorla would have been removed before the final whistle had he not been made to use up all three of his substitutions.

But as damaging as these casualties are to Arsenal side, already shorn of senior first-team players such as Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Coquelin and Tomas Rosicky, it is the loss of Alexis Sanchez which must most unsettle the Gunners faithful.

While the Chilean’s form in the early stages of this season has not quite hit the heights of last, when he scored 25 goals in all competitions (16 in the Premier League), Sanchez has still netted nine times – the joint highest with Giroud – and his brace against Dinamo Zagreb last Tuesday powerfully demonstrated the extent to which he provides Wenger’s team with a unique cutting edge.

When Coquelin was withdrawn with a knee injury during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against West Brom two weeks ago, many, such as Andrew and James of the Arsecast, howled about how the loss of the squad’s one specialist defensive midfielder had the potential to prove fatal for the side’s title hopes. Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini, the logic went, simply could not do Coquelin’s job – Arsenal are better equipped to compensate for injuries in the attack.

There is clearly merit to such an argument, and there can be no doubting the fact that Coquelin has grown to become one of Arsenal’s most important players over the last 12 months. However, Sanchez is unlike any other forward player in the Gunner’s squad.

The aggression, directness, and relentlessness of the Chilean’s running marks him out from teammates such as Wilshire and Ozil while his sharp decision-making and ruthless finishing mean that he possesses a clear edge on players such as Walcott, Welbeck, and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

He is, as the Guardian’s Barney Ronay put it, “the least Arsenal of Arsenal players, a guaranteed source of thrust and energy irrespective of opponent or occasion.”

Sanchez’s injury has the potential to derail Arsenal’s title push, and Wenger’s uncharacteristically waspish response to accusations that the Chilean’s injury was a consequence of being overused belies his own awareness of this fact.

With Sanchez, Arsenal have the look of real title contenders; without him, they are a side who will have to work hard to stay in the Champions League next season.

Alexis’ loss could prove fatal to Arsenal’s Premier League aspirations.

[Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images]

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