Sanchez at the double

Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal produced another lacklustre attacking display on Saturday, despite recording a two goal victory away to Sunderland.

The Gunners attacking players, apart from the impressive Sanchez, seem to be lacking in confidence at the moment.

After all, Sunderland, having lost 8-0 the week before, were there for the taking, yet Arsenal struggled to break them down and create chances. In the end Wenger’s side were grateful for two horrendous mistakes from the home side which gifted the Londoners victory.

It was a case of the same old story for Arsenal. They enjoyed plenty of possession, but their slow build up play allowed Sunderland to get men behind the ball and the Gunners couldn’t find that perfect final ball they always seem to search for. Of the front four attacking players, only Sanchez, who scored both goals, could hold his head high at the final whistle for a second successive game. The Chilean has settled into life in the Premier League extremely quickly and in truth has carried this team on his shoulders over the last few weeks.

His first goal highlighted everything that is so impressive about his game. A long ball forward from Mertesacker, seemed a lost cause at first, as it fell towards Wes Brown on the half way line. However Sanchez thought otherwise, showcasing his great determination and immense work rate, the Chilean chased down Mertesacker’s clearance. Brown made the costly mistake of allowing the ball to bounce, rather than heading it clear, and as Sanchez advanced, the former Manchester United man panicked, attempted to pass the ball back to his goalkeeper and failed to make sufficient contact with the ball. Sanchez didn’t need a second invitation; he pounced on the error, raced through on goal and showed great confidence to wait for the goalkeeper to move first, before coolly dinking the ball into the net. It was just reward for his fantastic attitude and approach to the game.

Sanchez’s second goal, which secured the victory in injury time, was in many ways similar to his first. Once again the Chilean showed great determination, this time to chase down a back pass to the goalkeeper, forcing Mannone into a mistake and robbing the former Arsenal man of possession. As with his first goal, Sanchez didn’t take the shot on as early as possible, or hit it as hard as he could in the hope the ball would fly into the net. Instead, he was in complete control of the situation and calmly waited for the opportune moment to poke the ball home.

Sanchez’s performance was in complete contrast to those around him. Danny Welbeck has been in the goals recently and has also settled in well at his new club, but didn’t play well against Anderlecht in midweek and against Sunderland he seemed unsure of himself at times, taking one too many touches on the ball. One occasion in the second half, highlighted this perfectly as a through ball into the box appeared perfectly weighted for an instant shot on goal, but instead Welbeck took a touch, pushed the ball away from goal, attempted to cross and the chance was lost. In similar fashion to Sanchez, Welbeck also does a lot of running off the ball but tends to drop far too deep to receive possession. At times against Sunderland he was as far back as the halfway line and then when he looked up, there was no Arsenal player in the position he had vacated. Either the other forward players need to recognise when he has dropped deep and move into that position, or Wenger has to tell Welbeck not to come back so far, as it is currently negatively impacting the Gunners attacking play.

In the space behind the main striker on Saturday, was Santi Cazrola, another man who appears to be desperately short of confidence of late. The Spaniard has fantastic ability but is simply not turning up when needed. His passing is letting him down at the moment, giving the ball away needlessly and disrupting Arsenal’s attacking rhythm. As the game against Sunderland entered the latter stages and the home side pushed forward in search of an equaliser, gaps started to appear for the Gunners to exploit. Two excellent and identical opportunities presented themselves to Cazorla in quick succession, but he blazed both over the bar in a clear sign of his lack of confidence. On both occasions, the ball was rolled across the box for Cazorla to strike on goal. A confident player would have put his head down and passed the ball calmly into the corner of the net, but the Spaniard went for power instead, hoping for the best and missed both chances badly.

Oxlade-Chamberlain also appears to be suffering from a crisis in confidence. The Englishman started this game on the flanks and with Theo Walcott returning to the bench on Saturday, is now involved in a titanic battle for a starting role in this side. He has failed to seize his opportunity and when everyone is fit, the assumption will be that Wenger will select Sanchez and Walcott ahead of Oxlade-Chamberlain and this has maybe led the former Southampton man to feel slightly sorry for himself. Against Sunderland there was one great run from him, in which he went past two players before being crudely halted by Lee Catermole. Unfortunately he is not embarking on enough of these runs at the moment and this dribble aside, Oxlade-Chamberlain was largely ineffective; his first touch letting him down time and time again and he appeared to be pushed off the ball far too easily.

As a result of this lack of confidence which appears to have swept through the squad of late, it is understandable why Arsenal are struggling to convert possession into genuine goal scoring opportunities. This coupled with a patched up defence which appears vulnerable whenever the opposition attack, is a recipe for disaster. Wenger can do nothing about his defence, with injuries ravishing this department and leaving the manager with few alternative options at the back. Further forward however Wenger must find a solution to the lack of confidence which is undermining his side’s attack. Sanchez can only carry the side for so long.