After a win against Bournemouth, The Gunners ended their November in a much better fashion than what they were able to do in the previous seasons. With two wins and three draws in all competitions in the month, this year, Arsenal did manage to come out far better from the month which statistically has been their worst of the season in their Premier League history.
Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth gave a very good account of themselves in the game putting up a resounding fight pushing the hosts all the way to secure the victory. It was another game where Alexis Sanchez performed very well scoring two goals. Everything felt rosy at the final whistle looking at the scoreboard but the performance on the pitch flattered to deceive.
This season Arsene Wenger has used Sanchez as a centre-forward but despite all the goals he has scored, the Chilean has struggled to make an impact against teams defending with a low block. While Sanchez’ pace and movement caused problems against the high defensive lines, when there is less space to operate and against big central defenders it has been very tough for the attacker to influence the game from his position.
As a result of which we have seen that the 27-year-old had to drop deeper to get involved in the game after getting isolated up front. One of the biggest problems which Arsenal has faced with Sanchez as a CF is the aerial play. On countless occasions, we have seen that the wingers or the fullbacks got into some promising crossing positions and then opted to play a back pass or a side pass as they knew that crossing into the box would be apparently useless.
This problem got solved the moment Olivier Giroud is present on the field. It is true that Giroud lacks pace but when on the field the French striker contributes to the game in more ways than one. Giroud’s movement in and around the penalty area is truly exceptional and he always makes himself available as a target inside the area which is the key to complete the attacks which are constructed down the wide areas of the Gunners.
Alexis is a player who can play out on the wings and playing the two together can thus be the answer to the problems which have really affected Arsene Wenger’s side against some of the opposition’s this term. Giroud has so far been hugely significant with his contribution as a sub, changing games the moment he is brought on by scoring goals and against Bournemouth, the big strikers assist in sealing the deal in the closing stages once again highlighted that he knows how to play the crucial passes which are right on the money.
It is a fact which needs to be acknowledged that Mesut Ozil is really poor in his finishing and totally resembles Alex Hleb in front of the goal, a person who is more likely to pass the ball than shoot even when he has the goal at his mercy. Thus, getting the maximum value out of a chance created by Giroud to Ozil is greatly reduced. With Alexis though, this doesn’t happen.
The Giroud-Alexis combination has the ability to open up even the meanest of the defences at crucial moments just like the Game against Manchester City last season at the Etihad when a typically outstanding little layoff from the striker opened up the chance for Sanchez to score the equaliser. With Alexis and Giroud both in the squad Arsenal will find it much easier to breach the opposition’s backline and except on certain occasions, the Arsenal first team should include the names of the two players without failure.
