Funny old game.
Gareth Bale, who despite his past is actually a very good player, gets booed at Real Madrid mostly for not passing to Cristiano Ronaldo when he (Bale) goes through one or one with the keeper.
Bale has scored 12 goals in 25 games, while Benzema has scored 14 in 27. Critiano Ronaldo has scored 33 in 28 games. No one else is allowed to score – it is in the contract.
So he’s only third scorer, but most clubs would like to keep a player with 12 goals this season. Only Real Mad support can be that bizarre.
By comparison Sánchez has scored 18 in 29 of which the Premier League record is 12 in 19 games. Plus 7 official assists.
As the Telegraph kindly lets us know, “in the entire 23-season history of the Premier League, no new arrival in England has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than Sánchez in their first 20 games.”
So by this part of the season Alexis has done better than anyone else coming to the League for their first season. Cristiano Ronaldo, in his first 20 Premier League games got five goals or assists.
This is of course encouraging, because most of it has been achieved with a very unsettled team playing with him. Goodness knows what he might have done if he had been receiving passes from Ozil and Ramsey all season. Goodness knows how many Arsenal would have scored with Giroud and Theo in the side all season.
The reason behind the Alexis numbers is fairly easy to ascertain.
1. He’s very talented,
2. He clearly listens to the manager and fits to the system that he is given to play in,
3. He works very hard and trains very hard,
4. The fans love him,
5, His stats show that he has made more tackles and more interceptions than the other three highest Premier League goalscorers (Costa – 15 goals, Aguero – 14, Austin – QPR) put together,
6. His enthusiasm and energy and drive is rubbing off on his fellow players who all know that if they keep pushing, he’ll get the ball and score,
7. He can see how the thug defenders in the premier league play, and has worked out how to play around them, which is clever.
So why did Barcelona sell him? Quite simply because he was getting fed up with not being very important to the club or the fans. Messi is god, Messi is everything, no room for another top man.
Now I want to back track just a little, to look at this list again. Tucked away at number four is “the fans love him” – we all love him.
But this love has nothing much to do with ethic and workrate. Podolski always had the fans on his side, but his lack of tracking back never really earned that support – it was just there because he was a good player at times, a good tweeter, and posted some funny pics and scored great goals. And he got the right chant.
Arsenal has a history of booing great players – in many ways that is down to luck. Jack Lambert was the worst ever example – a player in many ways as talented as Alexis, and who nearly left had he not received significant help in overcoming the booing from Herbert Chapman. Had he left, some of those early trophies would not have been ours. He scored 98 goals in 143 games.
Of course we are lucky that the moronic turnips who come to the Arsenal to boo and jeer, turn up in small numbers but even so their influence can spread if things go wrong.
But for now we can be very happy to have Alexis and his remarkable performances.
Here is a comparison with a certain Mr Henry…
| Season | Played | Goals | Percentage |
| Henry | |||
| 1999/2000 | 31 | 17 | 55% |
| 2000/01 | 35 | 17 | 49% |
| 2001/02 | 33 | 24 | 73% |
| 2002/03 | 37 | 24 | 65% |
| 2003/04 | 37 | 30 | 81% |
| Alexis | |||
| 2013/14 | 20 | 12 | 60% |
| Giroud | |||
| 2012/13 | 34 | 11 | 32% |
| 2013/14 | 36 | 16 | 44% |
| 2014/15 | 8 | 5 | 63% |
These are of course league goals and games only and so underplay Giroud’s figures vis a vis Henry’s somewhat (if we compare the two players on all games and goals, they are closer), but they help us see what we have got here.
Henry started out at a bit of a lower level than Alexis, and took quite a while to get going. Giroud in league terms, likewise.
But just consider the power of playing Giroud and Alexis on the pitch together. The defence will never have a clue as to where the goals are going to come from, which stretches the defence no end. Play Ramsey and Theo as well, and they’ll be all over the place.
And consider this. In 2001/2 the second highest scorer for Arsenal was Ljunberg with 12 in the season. Have two players knocking them in regularly and you have a different ball game. Two players who can get 20 or more each a season, then, wow…
A bit like having Ronaldo and Bale. Except the Real Mad fans don’t want Bale so he’ll probably go.
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I was lucky enought to be at the game on Sunday – living in France I only manage to get to about half the matches. I thought J Moss did us a favour in one respect: in response to one shameful decision after another, the crowd became as loud and united as I have heard.
However, with regard to Mr Alexis Sanchez – he is a phenomenon. Moreover, since August, I think he has got better. In fact, since the last match, he has improved! The nearest player to him might be Sergio Aguero, a player I much admired until Alexis arrived. Low slung, teak hard, quicksilver over the first five yards, an eye for goal – they share these traits. But Alexis offers so much more. I don’t think there’s another forward playing in the PL at the moment who runs as much, tracks back as much, tackles as much. I am really happy that he plays for the Arsenal!
So £63m man James hasn’t scored yet! Wow, not sure what our lovely people in the media here would make of that if he played for us 🙂
@Al
James has scored ten times for Real Madrid in all competitions this season. ^ La Liga, 2 Domestic Cup, 1 CL, 1 CWC
One minor pet peeve of mine has always been the use of goals/appearance. By using appearances, we’re putting the same weight on a 90 minute showing as we do on a stoppage time cameo.
Goals/minute is always a far more useful comparison of players, and really isn’t all that much more difficult to track.
Ok, thanks Steve, haven’t been following so no idea at all how he’s doing there.
haha so why you talking about it?
Not sure what or who the 3:53 post is aimed at….but if it was me that’s because Tony had (probably a joke) said no other player had scored for Madrid apart from the three he mentioned so I naturally took it to mean James hadn’t scored. I didn’t have to explain myself but then again…..
Anyway, regarding Sanchez, the guy is a top top player. Work rate, goals, everything, he’s got it all. I wasn’t aware of him until (can’t remember if it was the barca president or coach) someone at Barcelona said they weren’t interested in Fabregas as the only name they were interested in was Sanchez (barca signed him around the time fabregas was in the press daily about going back to Spain).
That got me a little curious as to who this guy was as I’d never heard of him, and after watching Sanchez in his first game for Barcelona I remember texting a Liverpool supporting friend that he really was something. Just so glad Barcelona fans didn’t appreciate him and he’s ours now.
I have heard, from a reliable source, that everything at Barca revolves around Messi and he has an ego the size of a planet (which is not the popular perception – but apparently he is worse than Cristiano). Some of his colleagues – who are all exceptional players in their own right – don’t really appreciate this. One reason why Sanchez and Fabregas moved to less sunny climes last summer…?
I look forward to seeing a lineup when fully fit of Ozil and Ramsey/Cazorla, with Giroud, Sanchez, and Walcott up front. That team will be scary good!
OT: Sanogo has been loaned to Crystal Palace for the rest of the season. Wish him the best of luck and hopes he helps them take some points of our rivals as well!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150113/yaya-sanogo-joins-crystal-palace-on-loan
One thing I like about Alexis….he is a fast learner.
His passing completion rate has improved. Hez improved in holding on to the ball too.
Great for ARSENAL.
Despite his background I feel sorry for Bale.
How the mighty have fallen.
His performances at Spurs would have guaranteed a successful career at practically any club in the Western Hemisphere….except Spain, where Messi and Ronaldo rule, OK?
The powers of these two apparent prima donnas will, of course, inevitably wane and a rude awakening awaits the short-sighted supporters of these two clubs.
Bale is an outstanding footballer, one of the best I have ever seen. He nearly carried Spurs to 4th place in his final season with them, despite being unkindly rushed back from an injury that probably blighted his first few months in Spain. It is too much to hope that he might ever come to us, but I wish him well and suspect it won’t be long before he is plying his trade in the Premier League.
Given his background and as he plays for Real Madrid now the next team Bale will go to will be….Arsenal. Remember he will be out of favour at the end of this season. Real Madrid will want to buy the next flavour of the season and will want to get rid of Bale.
And Bale was an Arsenal supporter as a kid so…he will come. Be patient. 😉
But which position will he play Walter?
Aaa’s want a DM how about there.
Players like Ronaldo,Messi and Ibrahamovich are gigantic ego-machines and would never fit into the Arsenal philosophy. Sanchez on the other hand is humble, not narcissistic and definitely team oriented.
Walter, I doubt that Bale would ever show up here as he’d be far too expensive and would have an enormous appeal to the oiler and sugardaddy clubs like Bayern, PSG, City and Chelsea, to name a few. I would sign him in a minute as he is everything a British Footballer should be and is a classy person as well….loyal and decent…..truly an Arsenal candidate.
Always hated the booing of Jack Lambert, great player
Off topic – Nasri has just let the cat out of the bag that he secretly met Fergie in a Paris apartment before deciding to go to Man City. This must be sufficient evidence of an illegal approach if United were not given permission to speak to Nasri. We know that there have been illegal approaches to our players but have not had evidence. If this evidence is ‘good’, then Arsenal should take the matter up with the FA & seek compensation.
There is nothing more galling than the crooked dealings that have made teams successful.
Jenkinson played 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes of extra time today in a FA Cup replay against Everton.
West Ham wins 9-8 on penalties, and Jenkinson took the second last penalty for West Ham, scoring.
Congratulations to Jenkinson and West Ham.
On Arsenal.com, is a twit from Alexis about a little boy fighting for his life after falling into a swimming pool. There are a LOT of people re-twitting that. I am drawing a blank at finding more information. That I don’t know any Spanish is partially responsible.
The Benik Afobe saga is still ongoing. Most sources say Wolves are who is interested. I was under the impression that the medical is one of the last things which is done, as near as I can tell the medical was done last Friday afternoon/evening.
The only explanation that makes sense to me, is that MK Dons are now bidding to buy him (which is where he has been on loan). If you seen the t-shirt picture, you will understand that he has been the big producer of goals for MK Dons. If they lose him, they could be hooped.
Menace
I am going to guess there is something like the statute of limitations in play here. That is why this comes out now, too late to do anything.
Maybe we can just shoot Nasri? And while we are at it, that thug from Stoke who took out Debuchy. 🙂
Things don’t even out. They don’t even come close.
I would settle for drawing and quartering Mike Riley 😈 .
Gord – I want first cut on Riley!! I don’t think there is any statute of limitations when it comes to this kind of rule breach. The idiot opened his mouth for media money/
Arsenal has lost to many players to tapping up & a lot of intellectual property to copy cat clubs. There must be pots of money in claims with good legal brains.
Szczesny is smoking mad about being left out of the last match. :-):-)
Walter, u have a crystal ball? Hope this is true.
Sorry I meant hope this becomes a reality.
Romance Never Dies – it just loses its bite !
An older couple were lying in bed one night. The husband was falling asleep but the wife felt romantic and wanted to talk.
She said, “You use to hold my hand when we were courting.”
Wearily he reached across, held her hand for a second and tried to get back to sleep.
A few moments later she said, “Then you used to kiss me.”
Mildly irritated, he reached across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep.
Thirty seconds later she said, “Then you use to bite my neck.”
Angrily, he threw back the bed clothes and got out of bed.
“Where are you going ?” she asked.
“To get my teeth!”
Alexis is a clever player, not just skill wise, but in avoiding those nasty injuries, he seems to “mostly” be aware of the opposition players around him, knows how to use their touch to produce a foul(come on, players ALL do it), and skips out of the way of most two footed lunges.
//
I hear a lot of comments about our players coming back and playing together. We now have a big/almost full squad, and we will have to see some rotation depending on the opposition.
So, we can play like Barca,
we can play like Bayern,
we can play like Real,
we can play like Stoke, Hull etc.
Chelsea now plays like us(had to slip that in),
so we now have many options to combat different scenarios, let us hope they are all used as efficiently as possible for the rest of the season, and beyond.
Honestly, i smell trophies this season, i do, i do.
PS
I hope Chelsea falls, they have been a few stutters, because i could not take it if they won PL playing the style of football Arsenal brought here, at least not before we win it again.
With all players fit, what is the best starting attacking combination for you guys?
@Johnny,
If you remember Jack Lambert as a player, you must be older than me (at 91). 😉
Alexis has become a peculiar player among the current crop of players at Arsenal. His hunger and anger might rub on his teammates but I’m sure he will be a leader by example very soon. His high level of expectation will only improve players around him. I still remember one peculiar character in WWF called Ultimate Warrior, who practically changed the face of the sports, being crazy and able to express himself independently during interviews and matches. Alexis is no different. His intensity is contagious and will be remembered for decades to come. He is now enjoying his football with Arsenal and his teammates are enjoying his contribution as well. Such players are unstoppable in second season, so guys, prepare yourself for the best collection of attack force in the world.