One can only hope Alexis Sanchez’s individualistic and opportunistic streak is not swallowed whole by the Soviet style collectivism that is Arsenal, a style that can be both sublime and a scourge. More a scourge with Aston Villa and Galatasaray as the exceptions. Yesterday’s match essentially hinged on two pivotal mistakes by Sunderland and both times it was Sanchez following his predatory instincts. Glory hunting paid off handsomely. Capping Wes Brown’s badly miscued back pass with a cool finish and then celebrating Vito Mannone’s demons in his head moment with a nice put back. As cliched as it sounds, he was at the right place at the right time but with a huge double lined underscore of he made it so. In his midst, factual evidence of an Arsenal side, so poor they could start a lost ball department. Without a GPS, passing to ghosts, utterly clueless as to location of goal and suffering from debilitating co-dependency. All this against a Sunderland side afraid of their own shadow asking for a mauling. Instead, it was an Arsenal matching them for tail behind their legs.
Santi Cazorla needed a aircraft hanger for a goal, so disjointed was his shooting. And we can now safely say the Ox has stopped developing. The wall has been hit. Three years have passed since that jaw dropping sweeping pass to set up RVP’s goal heralded the Ox’s arrival but there has been too much heedless pace and robustness and not enough inspirational moments. Against Sunderland, he bustled about in the first half making runs which went nowhere, dribbled himself of the ball, or made poor choices. In the second, he went missing. Welbeck’s problem actually might be his industry, he’s so peripatetic he’s never ideally situated for goalscoring opportunities. Mikel Arteta returned to partner Flamini as holding midfielder which saw mind numbingly slow spadework build up but the 15 feet in front of goal could have been a different planet.
Amidst all this, Sanchez seems to have acknowledged the theme of collectivism without the internalization. How could he not? He was at Barca, an exclamation mark in the collective but now more overtly admiring of individualism. He never fit in with Pep Guardiola’s tiki taka. At 26 years and a little older, he’s more acutely aware of self expression. In 8 league appearances he’s scored 5 goals, the side’s top scorer and last weekend provided a perfect example. Against Hull, he drove to goal with only one instinct, to score. No slowing down, checking for bodies to arrive to thread the most perfectly pinged goal, only to end in all too familiar and frustrating sterility. That was about as anti Arsenal goal as any. And it needs to be celebrated loudly and uninhibitedly.
There could have been Welbeck or Cazorla or the Ox primed for opportunism to receive those Sunderland gifts but it was Sanchez and the reason is he puts himself about without deference. It’s not just that he’s the most reliable goal scorer but he’s actually the only reason why Arsenal pose any goal scoring threat. The Anderlecht victory was purely down to his sensing an opportunity for a winner. Realized through Podolski. Through his individualism, he’s picking up the paychecks of 5 other players. The genuine worry is not just injury, an Arsenal staple, but the longer he plays he loses that utilitarian edge to a leavening collectivism. A well founded fear. Santi Cazorla’s goal scoring drought is not a mirage. His first season away from the Liga was his best. Since those 12 goals netted its been a declining return. 4 in the second, and none this season. Overall, last season produced 68 goals in the league, Arsenal’s lowest total since the 2008-2009 season. The struggle to score continues. Sanchez is still the best insurance against more calculating sides who stack up against Arsenal’s black hole sucking up players to the middle. So lets celebrate his best, to a yesteryear when Arsenal were who were they were, the perfect amalgam of the collective and the individual. 10 years ago.