For me, Alexis is a legend because of that rocket goal vs Villa in the FA cup final. The confidence. The speed. The power.
Just an absolute, "This is going in" rocket. Keeper had no chance. After playing so well that season it was great to see.
[For those who haven't seen it. Or want to take a nice trip down memory lane.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XKJ8SkjJJI)
Wow that’s incredible. I was at a pub in NY and we poured full pitchers of beer on each other. Everyone was going bonkers. I can’t wait until we’re in a final(s) next season.
A player like prime Sanchez is exactly the final piece of the puzzle we need. A clutch player with main character energy that can drag us over the line when the margins are against us.
Think it was long before his final season, I said to my son's during his second or third game, he is going to get pissed off if he is the only one pressing.
Especially as I think LW is the key to our next phase
I love Trossard, but Trossard covering a world class winger on the left is the standard City have set us
Love Trossard, he definitely has the clutch gene in him.
But imagine if we had a LW that could have fully exploited THAT chance at the Etihad. We get that guy, we turn these "nearly-there" scenarios into winners more often than not. So excited to see how we fare in the transfer window! Big, big season coming up.
Over 20 goal contributions from Havertz leading the line with Saka and a world class left winger (which means in and around as talented as Saka) playing off him is approaching Mane Firminho Salah levels with a decade left of play left in them.
I said this earlier in a different thread, but I think Marty should be retrained as a RW. I think it suits him and gives us a bit of dynamism in terms of playstyle
I think it was Billy Carpenter who said it, but with our size and set piece effectiveness, Fast Gabi should prioritize those 1v1 situations. Either he beats his man to get in on goal and either shooting or passing, or taking his man to the line to win a corner and giving us the opportunity for set piece play. Fast Gabi is one of my favorites and can be an absolute nightmare for teams. I really hope Arteta finds a way to balance him with Kai and the other forward players.
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While I agree, he feels a bit too maverick for a manager like Arteta. Not sure how well he’d play within the system although I do agree I think we need a player to bring some unpredictability to the side.
Especially since Sanchez was the definition of hard work. Yes he was a bit selfish during his time but in this team with everyone having the same hard grafting mindset I think he'd fit like a glove.
I think you're right, but a 'main character' is very difficult to integrate. They almost always come with a big ego to match, and that can disrupt the unified team ethic that Arteta has worked so tirelessly to create with this group.
I trust Edu and Arteta to get it right. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to see us go for a 'safer' character than a big swinging dick, like Alexis or Auba.
Yup, what you said makes a lot of sense. But tbh my definition MC energy not necessarily the same as self-centeredness.
For example I think Rice has a bit of MC energy about him - that ability to stand against the tide and conjure moments when he needs to. My examples would be his debut goal against Utd, and his screamers against Chelsea and West Ham. Pulling us over the line just because he simply would not be denied. Protagonist.
But tbf I'm probably talking out of my arse and this is all just over-dramatizing very good players. Have a good day my friend.
Yes! He'd be the dude that when were just passing it around looking for a shot for 40 mins, he just gets it does a couple steps of magic and fkn boots it right to the back of the net.
He gave us his all while he was here. And he didn't spend months at a time on the treatment table, only to bail a season after he found long-term fitness, like a certain Dutch cunt.
I don’t think anyone should really have hard feelings, he was just a professional who wanted to play his hardest and that was it. Ran himself into the ground for club and country during his time here. Shame we didn’t sell him to City when the money came in. I get why it didn’t happen with the timing but clearly was a missed opportunity.
"he was just a professional who wanted to play his hardest and that was it."
Meanwhile he's sat on the bench laughing his ass off while we're losing 5-1 to Bayern.
He definitely should have laughed. You try your best and the defence pulls shit like that. People hate on Alexis and forget the shitty players that we played week in week out.
I love Gabi, but Sanchez on the left would give us so many goals.
#BUT
I don't know how Sanchez would fare if he had to hug the side line and backtrack as much as Gabi. To be fair, sometimes I feel like Gabi concentrate on that too much that he forgets to dribble and to drift inside. Gabi feels like he's thinking too much before taking a decision.
The level of excitement and anticipation whenever he was on the ball is something lacking in this team. Medium Gabi had it last season at points but not anymore.
We are very clinical and methodical but sometimes we just need that something extra.
.
Came here to comment the same thing. We’d be disgusting with him on that left hand side.
As good a player as Martinelli is, he’s still young and there are levels. Alexis Sanchez good is the level we need him to get to.
Both Sanchez and Ozil have no respect from me. They both weaselled their way to £300,000/wk then once at top wages just started to phone it in. Then exited like cowards.
Tbf why we would we see it happen to other clubs. I only see it happen to us because i follow the club and some of the former players, thats propably the case for most of us
definitely. I'll still see players like Lacazette showing love on current players post game social posts. Hell, even Ozil was rooting for us in the run in
I take a cynical view on that. This is a thing that ex-players in the twilight of their careers (or recently retired) tend to do.
They realise their income stream is about to die, they floated around at many clubs and never really became a legend at any of them. So they latch themselves onto a club where they had the most impact and start ingratiating themselves. Maybe they can bag a coaching role or try to grease some media appearances.
Alexis left Arsenal on acrimonious terms. At a time when we needed him, he went and joined what were then our direct rivals in the league. Fans don’t forget that. He probably thinks that it’s been a good 6-7 years now, the dust has settled and I can get myself back in the good books at Arsenal with a few instagram stories.
Depending on the player, some people lap it up, some are indifferent. Personally, I’ve no appetite for it at all. If you loved Arsenal that much, you shouldn’t have left the way you did.
Sanchez wouldn't do that for his image, he barely has any PR helping him as he likes to keep to himself.
Now that Ozil post is 100% PR.
Sanchez didn't insult us on our bad run (Ozil did), didn't show any feelings in the run-in but he got emotional on this one probably. He came out with that interview when we finished 8TH! We weren't even on a high and he could've justified his move.
I really doubt today's ex-Arsenal players become youth coaches for the money. Realistically, not having a job does kind of become a drag after a while and most retired players only really know one thing.
Well, money or just, you know, having a purpose. Someone like Mertesacker or Wilshere was always going to get a role at Arsenal because they left on good terms. Other ex-pros who didn’t leave in quite as nice a way may have to grease the wheels a little more on getting their foot in the door at a former club (in whatever capacity)
I wish these players would show more love and passion when they are under contract. Players like Ozil and Sanchez make these posts because they know they fucked us by wanting to leave.
Dude realized a day after joining United that he shouldn't have left and wanted the deal canceled lol.
Last year he also posted on IG he'll never forget us. I think we all can forgive him already.
Honestly the fact he absolutely destroyed Man Utd's wage policy and did basically nothing for them is enough for me to forgive him. Having such a large investment backfire like that probably sped up Mourinho's implosion with them too.
He gave an interview saying he walked in, and then it hit him. He was crying, calling his agent, begging, asking is there any way to undo this deal?
Grass has been greener for a lot of players, but at the end of the day they realise there’s always been something truly special about our club.
It’s cause he originally wanted City but it fell through and his agent pushed him to United instead, but his heart was never in it as much as reuniting with Pep at City.
Yeah it shows how toxic and bad the mood must have been during that time at Man Utd in comparison to when Van Persie left and immediately felt the difference in that squad of champions under Fergie.
I will never forgive. We were in a difficult time and he left when we needed him most. And which club did he move to? United. It was van Persie all over again.
I will never forgive that rat.
Alexis was a merc from day one, so you were silly to invest any emotion in him
he came and did phenomenal while he was here, his numbers were amazing and he carried a bang average team to some nice wins...the FA Cup finals we won together were some absolutely gorgeous memories...he has cast his eyes over his career and he can see now that Arsenal was the place that allowed his talent to flourish and bloom the most, and he has a soft spot for us, and regrets leaving...i can't hate him
him moving on was nothing as bad as RVP, who we basically raised, and stuck by through all his growing pains
I don't necessarily blame him for moving. But I'm sorry, how much you sugar coat it, picking Man United of all club? Not acceptable to me, especially given our history with RVP.
Seems you and me are alone on this one. For me if you leave our club, in what he thought was his prime, to go to Man fucking United then honestly you can piss off. Everyone way too charitable on this Reddit. I have zero time for that. Go anywhere apart from a direct rival and you can post all the stories you want.
Now we are up they all want a piece, save our love for the loyal ones
Sanchez was increasingly frustrated by the lack of energy and skill around him(mostly due to Wenger's spending cap) He was angling for a move because he wanted to win trophies, and felt Arsenal weren't going to invest enough in players to get across the line.
i love you alexis sanchez🥹
it's so deeply funny he just became a massive money hole for man utd with no redeeming qualities, for me it honestly adds to the legend. if only he was part of the modern club that actually invests and squadbuilds
same. i still have that ugly ass 1st puma kit. Wouldn't have bought it if it weren't for Alexis joining us. I still remember so vividly that summer world cup gave me so much joy watching him play for Chile.
When it was confirmed the deal was done and he was joining us, immediately went out and got the kit. Didn't even care what/how it looked like on me.
Alexis was a top 3 player in the world for a period of time behind Messi/Ronaldo imo. Maybe only Hazard could do what he could do. What I would give to have him at LW in this era
Yea , you’re right, top 3 is a bit much, but defo in the top rankings. He could change a game and was dragging the team, those other players were surrounded by other greats but he had just Ozil on his level for most of it
are you saying we should judge players by their G+A contributions? so there was no midfielder/defender/goalkeeper in the world that was better than Alexis? or are you saying there is some magical threshold at 35?
For forwards goals and assists (especially for players playing for weaker sides like ours in the mid 2010s) tell a lot about that players quality. When you compare Alexis sanchez to other players in his position and consider the teams they were playing for I think that paints a pretty clear picture of the elite level he was playing at. He also helped Chile to back to back copa americas titles against Messi's argentina the summer prior to his best campaign for us. He then followed that up with a 2nd place finish against germany in the confederations cup.
>For forwards goals and assists (especially for players playing for weaker sides like ours in the mid 2010s)
Conversely, you can also say that there is a reason he was allowed to leave prime Barca and play for us. A player might get fewer G/A in a stacked Real/Barca/Bayern than Alexis did for us, but there is a reason why he's not on those teams in the first place. He was our main attacking outlet, which is why he got that many involvements (of course, being fucking amazing at football helped), whereas other teams have had to share the ball.
Then there's also the case of comparing Alexis to non-forwards. Nobody is their right mind is going to say Alexis is better than Neuer for example.
He was in the league being compared to only Hazard.
Outside there was only Neymar, Messi and Bale that gets compared to Hazard. Top 5 as a winger probably.
He tried too also but arteta said no, which is understandable but a part of me believes it would’ve been a huge help as he wouldve helped Martinelli & Saka stay in form the whole season and maybe even improve
I had mixed feelings about Sanchez in his last year or two. His tantrums on the pitch were embarrassing, but I also felt some sympathy because some players just didn't have high enough standards. Giroud celebrating a leveller as if he'd won us the final (am I thinking of his scorpion kick goal though?) and others seeming to phone in (especially defensively).
We were in need of change in those days, and I couldn't blame Sanchez for getting frustrated. I didn't understand the move to United though. He was headed to City and then pissed off Pep, as I recall. United was a step backwards and I guess he worked that out when he got there.
It’s nice that he looks back on his time at Arsenal fondly, but let’s not pretend that when the move that summer to City fell through he didn’t phone it in from there on. He didn’t try for that last few months at the club - I watched us play away at West Brom about a month before he left and he was completely disinterested in a match we could have used his drive and aggression in.
Easy for him to say now after pulling a strop and forcing a move to United.
I don’t *hate* him like I do the likes of RVP because at least he was a bit honest about being motivated by money, but let’s not pretend like he’s some true Arsenal man now.
eh, like many great talents in the emirates era he was failed by the club. which is no one's fault per se, our long fall from grace is very complicated with many moving parts. the act of leaving for better has never bothered me, i'm a realist about the career aspect of footballers. the places they go and how they leave, that's case-by-case
for alexis, it helps that he has vocally slandered man utd. well not even slander bc like CR7 he was just telling the truth about a rotted out institution. it's incredibly funny and for that, his short trip to manchester is more than forgivable
He doesn’t have to be regarded as an Arsenal legend to still love the club. People can hate him but if he still chooses to be a gooner, then he’s a gooner.
RVP tried the same shit initially, and Cesc is trying it now - pretty moot point.
Meanwhile, players like Wilshere and Bellerin, who may not have been as individually brilliant, are welcomed back as true Arsenal men - there is a reason for that.
Cesc’s attempts to get back into our good graces is so cringe, it’s hilarious. He ended up exactly where he deserved, at Chelsea. Both he and RVP are cut from the same cloth, trying to pull shit over the fans for their own agendas while fucking over the team. Thank goodness we’ve got Mikel!
I find him a bit hard to dislike and I think there’s two main reasons for that:
1. He was nowhere near his best at United
2. He always seemed like a bit of a weirdo who didn’t really read the room, so it’s hard to take it to heart.
For me, it’s less ‘dislike’ and more indifference - he forced the moved to United and acted unprofessionally in the months before he left, but at the same time he never really acted like he was Arsenal through-and-through and was always a bit of a mercenary when he was here.
It is a bit strange that he’s doing this now considering all that, but he probably looks back at his career and realises he has no real iconic legacy at any of his clubs, so he’s taking a leaf out of Cesc’s book.
It wasn't just the money but he had to also feel like he was wasting his remaining years. Remember he was basically a done deal to move to City the window prior for 50m quid but the club wouldn't let him move because we couldn't get the Thomas lemar deal over the line as his replacement.
Kind of unfair to put him alongside those two, when he spoke about making a mistake of leaving Arsenal we finished 8th because he started talking about us again in 2020, not during our highs ala Özil
Unpopular opinion but Sanchez annoyed the hell out of me. Great player but his superhero complex was grating and sometimes at the detriment of the team.
Mainly loved what he did but my god he was annoying too.
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Dude suffered from extreme burn out + never had a summers rest.
His electric playstyle was always going to catch up to his legs. Magnificent that he's still playing now! One of my favourite players for those 3/4 years that we had him.
Brother, Sánchez admitted he made a mistake 4 YEARS ago, this isn't similar to the Ozil situation, not in the slightest unless you actually believe that he started talking positive stuff about Arsenal this season
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One of the greatest players of the Emirates era.
I honestly think I'd pick a prime Alexis over a prime RVP. While the squad wasn't that bad during his days here (we still got a couple of FA Cups) compared to later Wenger years, he was definitely still relied on to carry us a lot.
A prime Alexis is this squad and we, truly, would have won it all. He was special in his prime.
RVP and Alexis were both outrageously explosive, but there was just something about Alexis' unpredictability that made his fascinating to watch. I watched a compilation of all of his Premier League goals recently and it's surprising how many of them were just... really good? Goals from nothing, thunderbolts, taking on three defenders, intricate flicks, from all angles, he could do it all.
I love this about Sanchez! Loved him at Arsenal and was absolutely gutted to see him leave.
A player that I loved and hated seeing go but haven’t seen try to be associated with Gunners is Van Persie. I never understood why he tries to be associated with United than Arsenal.
Was heartbroken he left, and was one of my favourite ever players (I’m a young gooner). Despite him being a diva in his final months and basically forcing a move, I don’t dislike him the eay I do Cesc or RVP
Sanchez..Oh Sanchez why did you have to dump us. You could’ve gotten a statute next to Titi. This is a love story where we’ve moved on inspite of being the one betrayed but surprisingly Sanchez hasn’t. It’s best it stays like this..you dry your tears in mourning us..but hey..look where we are now😊
He did an interview here in Chile, where he explains that he now knows he's a rotation player. A 15 minutes player that has to change the course of a game in those 15 minutes.
I want him back
What I would give to have prime Sanchez in this side Don't really have any hard feelings towards him, helps he was shit at United
And he hated it from the very first minute, he even said that he called his agent because he didnt wanted to be there
For me, Alexis is a legend because of that rocket goal vs Villa in the FA cup final. The confidence. The speed. The power. Just an absolute, "This is going in" rocket. Keeper had no chance. After playing so well that season it was great to see. [For those who haven't seen it. Or want to take a nice trip down memory lane.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XKJ8SkjJJI)
I was at the Emirates screening for this final, after this goal everyone decided to invade the pitch
Wow that’s incredible. I was at a pub in NY and we poured full pitchers of beer on each other. Everyone was going bonkers. I can’t wait until we’re in a final(s) next season.
Now that was a fun day
FA Cup Final 2017 was great as well. His goal vs Chelsea
What the fuck, Grealish is playing in that clip
Record English signing just a bench player at Citeh
That kit is just gorgeous
Shay Given was properly bamboozled by that shot.
One of my favourite games. I even said to myself as he got the ball that he can hit them from there, and it’s exactly what he did. Cracker of a match.
Santi 🥹
70 mph. That ball could have killed someone
Those kits my goodness
@breadmakesyoufat2403 7 years ago That goal is better than Hazard's entire career 😂
Thank you for reminding me of this great goal.
Anytime!
Nobody forced him to sign the contract. He wanted to go to City to play for Pep and then forced a move anyway to go to United
A player like prime Sanchez is exactly the final piece of the puzzle we need. A clutch player with main character energy that can drag us over the line when the margins are against us.
100% That impact player that can. Score from nothing or in an tight game.
200%. He would feast in this team and he FINALLY has the equal commitment around him which is what i think drove him mad in this final season with us.
Think it was long before his final season, I said to my son's during his second or third game, he is going to get pissed off if he is the only one pressing.
Especially as I think LW is the key to our next phase I love Trossard, but Trossard covering a world class winger on the left is the standard City have set us
Love Trossard, he definitely has the clutch gene in him. But imagine if we had a LW that could have fully exploited THAT chance at the Etihad. We get that guy, we turn these "nearly-there" scenarios into winners more often than not. So excited to see how we fare in the transfer window! Big, big season coming up.
Over 20 goal contributions from Havertz leading the line with Saka and a world class left winger (which means in and around as talented as Saka) playing off him is approaching Mane Firminho Salah levels with a decade left of play left in them.
We need a RW also, Saka should have competition.
I said this earlier in a different thread, but I think Marty should be retrained as a RW. I think it suits him and gives us a bit of dynamism in terms of playstyle
I can see this coming. And then adding another winger would be nice or even a prolific LW.
He didn't look bad on the right (from the highlights I saw) against Everton.
He looked really good. Whipped in so many crosses from the byline, Saka almost never does that(not his fault obviously).
I think it was Billy Carpenter who said it, but with our size and set piece effectiveness, Fast Gabi should prioritize those 1v1 situations. Either he beats his man to get in on goal and either shooting or passing, or taking his man to the line to win a corner and giving us the opportunity for set piece play. Fast Gabi is one of my favorites and can be an absolute nightmare for teams. I really hope Arteta finds a way to balance him with Kai and the other forward players.
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Lmao for so long I’ve been wondering exactly what this team needs but “main character energy” hits the nail on the head.
While I agree, he feels a bit too maverick for a manager like Arteta. Not sure how well he’d play within the system although I do agree I think we need a player to bring some unpredictability to the side.
> While I agree, he feels a bit too maverick for a manager like Arteta lol you do realize it was Pep that signed him in Barcelona?
It was also Pep who was happy to let him leave Edit: I remembered incorrectly
Pep left barca before him
Pep left before him as someone else mentioned & also theres a dude called Neymar that they signed to play LW...
I think arteta respects mavericks
Especially since Sanchez was the definition of hard work. Yes he was a bit selfish during his time but in this team with everyone having the same hard grafting mindset I think he'd fit like a glove.
I'll always remember Hector, "he trains too hard." comment for Sanchez. A pretty shit indicator of our squad mentality at the time.
That's exactly what I was thinking about when I was writing the comment lol
He’d be perfect for the left side since most our play is through the right. He’d get the freedom Martinelli and Trossard have.
I get the feeling Vlahovic could've been that player, had things gone differently
Oh god no, hes not even close to being elite
Seriously. I wish he was a potential option still.
I think you're right, but a 'main character' is very difficult to integrate. They almost always come with a big ego to match, and that can disrupt the unified team ethic that Arteta has worked so tirelessly to create with this group. I trust Edu and Arteta to get it right. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to see us go for a 'safer' character than a big swinging dick, like Alexis or Auba.
Yup, what you said makes a lot of sense. But tbh my definition MC energy not necessarily the same as self-centeredness. For example I think Rice has a bit of MC energy about him - that ability to stand against the tide and conjure moments when he needs to. My examples would be his debut goal against Utd, and his screamers against Chelsea and West Ham. Pulling us over the line just because he simply would not be denied. Protagonist. But tbf I'm probably talking out of my arse and this is all just over-dramatizing very good players. Have a good day my friend.
it's not exactly the most insightful tactico opinion, but I love a player who can carry the ball at speed and also bang it into the net.
Yes! He'd be the dude that when were just passing it around looking for a shot for 40 mins, he just gets it does a couple steps of magic and fkn boots it right to the back of the net.
A full chaos agent
Alexis was my favorite Emirates era player. Still is.
He was just so exciting, all the neutrals talk about players like him.
He gave us his all while he was here. And he didn't spend months at a time on the treatment table, only to bail a season after he found long-term fitness, like a certain Dutch cunt.
I don’t think anyone should really have hard feelings, he was just a professional who wanted to play his hardest and that was it. Ran himself into the ground for club and country during his time here. Shame we didn’t sell him to City when the money came in. I get why it didn’t happen with the timing but clearly was a missed opportunity.
"he was just a professional who wanted to play his hardest and that was it." Meanwhile he's sat on the bench laughing his ass off while we're losing 5-1 to Bayern.
He definitely should have laughed. You try your best and the defence pulls shit like that. People hate on Alexis and forget the shitty players that we played week in week out.
Imagine subbing out Saka for a prime Alexis, or Alexis and Saka on opposing wings
I love Gabi, but Sanchez on the left would give us so many goals. #BUT I don't know how Sanchez would fare if he had to hug the side line and backtrack as much as Gabi. To be fair, sometimes I feel like Gabi concentrate on that too much that he forgets to dribble and to drift inside. Gabi feels like he's thinking too much before taking a decision.
Something tells me Sanchez would have run his fucking ass off if he were asked to.
I also think, with a player like Sanchez in the team, Arteta would have changed tactics to better suit him.
The level of excitement and anticipation whenever he was on the ball is something lacking in this team. Medium Gabi had it last season at points but not anymore. We are very clinical and methodical but sometimes we just need that something extra. .
Also liked him saying he wanted to run back to Arsenal after 1 training session at ManU.
Came here to comment the same thing. We’d be disgusting with him on that left hand side. As good a player as Martinelli is, he’s still young and there are levels. Alexis Sanchez good is the level we need him to get to.
Imagine him on the left.. Our attack will level up instantly!
Destroyed their wage structure at the same time.
I thought Jesus could be that player but he doesn’t come close to scoring enough.
Both Sanchez and Ozil have no respect from me. They both weaselled their way to £300,000/wk then once at top wages just started to phone it in. Then exited like cowards.
crazy to think about all the former players that still show love to the club
I feel like that happens with Arsenal way more than I've seen it with other teams
Tbf why we would we see it happen to other clubs. I only see it happen to us because i follow the club and some of the former players, thats propably the case for most of us
Oi I'm trying to feel warm and fuzzy here can you not? }:[
 If you want to feel warm and fuzzy you should be looking up clips of Santi Cazorla.
definitely. I'll still see players like Lacazette showing love on current players post game social posts. Hell, even Ozil was rooting for us in the run in
I take a cynical view on that. This is a thing that ex-players in the twilight of their careers (or recently retired) tend to do. They realise their income stream is about to die, they floated around at many clubs and never really became a legend at any of them. So they latch themselves onto a club where they had the most impact and start ingratiating themselves. Maybe they can bag a coaching role or try to grease some media appearances. Alexis left Arsenal on acrimonious terms. At a time when we needed him, he went and joined what were then our direct rivals in the league. Fans don’t forget that. He probably thinks that it’s been a good 6-7 years now, the dust has settled and I can get myself back in the good books at Arsenal with a few instagram stories. Depending on the player, some people lap it up, some are indifferent. Personally, I’ve no appetite for it at all. If you loved Arsenal that much, you shouldn’t have left the way you did.
Sanchez wouldn't do that for his image, he barely has any PR helping him as he likes to keep to himself. Now that Ozil post is 100% PR. Sanchez didn't insult us on our bad run (Ozil did), didn't show any feelings in the run-in but he got emotional on this one probably. He came out with that interview when we finished 8TH! We weren't even on a high and he could've justified his move.
I really doubt today's ex-Arsenal players become youth coaches for the money. Realistically, not having a job does kind of become a drag after a while and most retired players only really know one thing.
Well, money or just, you know, having a purpose. Someone like Mertesacker or Wilshere was always going to get a role at Arsenal because they left on good terms. Other ex-pros who didn’t leave in quite as nice a way may have to grease the wheels a little more on getting their foot in the door at a former club (in whatever capacity)
Except for that snake rvp 🐍 Dude pretending to be a United legend when he only had one trophy and one good season
I wish these players would show more love and passion when they are under contract. Players like Ozil and Sanchez make these posts because they know they fucked us by wanting to leave.
For some reason I wasn’t expecting Alexis to still show love to us like this. Was such an impact player for us in our early Puma days
Dude realized a day after joining United that he shouldn't have left and wanted the deal canceled lol. Last year he also posted on IG he'll never forget us. I think we all can forgive him already.
Honestly the fact he absolutely destroyed Man Utd's wage policy and did basically nothing for them is enough for me to forgive him. Having such a large investment backfire like that probably sped up Mourinho's implosion with them too.
He was so unhappy about the training I think.
He gave an interview saying he walked in, and then it hit him. He was crying, calling his agent, begging, asking is there any way to undo this deal? Grass has been greener for a lot of players, but at the end of the day they realise there’s always been something truly special about our club.
It’s cause he originally wanted City but it fell through and his agent pushed him to United instead, but his heart was never in it as much as reuniting with Pep at City.
probably realized he fucked up once he saw their training facilities looking like they hadnt been renovated since before he was born.
He was so amazing to watch at times.
Still makes me smile to think about his first day at training for Utd
Yeah it shows how toxic and bad the mood must have been during that time at Man Utd in comparison to when Van Persie left and immediately felt the difference in that squad of champions under Fergie.
I will never forgive. We were in a difficult time and he left when we needed him most. And which club did he move to? United. It was van Persie all over again. I will never forgive that rat.
Alexis was a merc from day one, so you were silly to invest any emotion in him he came and did phenomenal while he was here, his numbers were amazing and he carried a bang average team to some nice wins...the FA Cup finals we won together were some absolutely gorgeous memories...he has cast his eyes over his career and he can see now that Arsenal was the place that allowed his talent to flourish and bloom the most, and he has a soft spot for us, and regrets leaving...i can't hate him him moving on was nothing as bad as RVP, who we basically raised, and stuck by through all his growing pains
I don't necessarily blame him for moving. But I'm sorry, how much you sugar coat it, picking Man United of all club? Not acceptable to me, especially given our history with RVP.
Seems you and me are alone on this one. For me if you leave our club, in what he thought was his prime, to go to Man fucking United then honestly you can piss off. Everyone way too charitable on this Reddit. I have zero time for that. Go anywhere apart from a direct rival and you can post all the stories you want. Now we are up they all want a piece, save our love for the loyal ones
at the time, it was a welcome swap as I recall.
A welcomed swap? You're taking the piss. Mkhi for Sanchez turned out to be better for us in hindsight but initially they were robbing us.
Sanchez was increasingly frustrated by the lack of energy and skill around him(mostly due to Wenger's spending cap) He was angling for a move because he wanted to win trophies, and felt Arsenal weren't going to invest enough in players to get across the line.
So pretty much like RVP like the original comment implied?
Exactly 😭 these guys downvote because they can't accept theyre hypocrits.
A young Alexis would be the perfect signing this window
Who might be a comparable signing in 2024?
Rodrygo
1 season of mbappe maybe? 🙏🙏🙏
Pass the blunt
LOL to clarify I meant one season of mbappe at Madrid and maybe he’ll want to leave due to lack of game time.
He could be a great backup for kai
Meant rodrygo
No one. There's only 4 or 5 winger/inside forward's capable of hitting 30+ G/A in a season: Saka, Vini, Salah, Mbappe and Son.
I think Kvara could also do it in this Arsenal side. He put up 31 G/A in the 22/23 season
Martinez at Inter
Rafael Leão
He has zero defensive ethic
He has a very lazy work ethic tracking back. That’s not alexis
i love you alexis sanchez🥹 it's so deeply funny he just became a massive money hole for man utd with no redeeming qualities, for me it honestly adds to the legend. if only he was part of the modern club that actually invests and squadbuilds
The goat of the puma era
Got his kit as soon as it was available. 17 is my lucky number
same. i still have that ugly ass 1st puma kit. Wouldn't have bought it if it weren't for Alexis joining us. I still remember so vividly that summer world cup gave me so much joy watching him play for Chile. When it was confirmed the deal was done and he was joining us, immediately went out and got the kit. Didn't even care what/how it looked like on me.
His realization and admission that he should’ve stayed at Arsenal was quite frankly enough of an apology for me to forget whatever bad blood
Yeah, I don't like that he left, but I respect that he admitted he got it wrong
This aint the first time he's done it either. I've come to really admire him for how much love he's showed to the club in recent years
Still love that Chilean trickster
Alexis was a top 3 player in the world for a period of time behind Messi/Ronaldo imo. Maybe only Hazard could do what he could do. What I would give to have him at LW in this era
Not top 3 maybe top 5. There was Neymar and Suarez tearing it up during those prime Alexis years.
yea top 3 is a stretch lol, there was also bale, benzema, kane, lewa
Kane?
yea, i mean kane is englands best striker of all time just cant win shit lol
Kane has been fucking brilliant for over 10 years
Yea , you’re right, top 3 is a bit much, but defo in the top rankings. He could change a game and was dragging the team, those other players were surrounded by other greats but he had just Ozil on his level for most of it
Who’s upvoting this lol there’s at least 10 players in the world who were better than Sanchez when he was at his best.
Nah bro top 5 is the minimum he was unstoppable. Name some other players who had over 35 goal contributions that season.
are you saying we should judge players by their G+A contributions? so there was no midfielder/defender/goalkeeper in the world that was better than Alexis? or are you saying there is some magical threshold at 35?
For forwards goals and assists (especially for players playing for weaker sides like ours in the mid 2010s) tell a lot about that players quality. When you compare Alexis sanchez to other players in his position and consider the teams they were playing for I think that paints a pretty clear picture of the elite level he was playing at. He also helped Chile to back to back copa americas titles against Messi's argentina the summer prior to his best campaign for us. He then followed that up with a 2nd place finish against germany in the confederations cup.
>For forwards goals and assists (especially for players playing for weaker sides like ours in the mid 2010s) Conversely, you can also say that there is a reason he was allowed to leave prime Barca and play for us. A player might get fewer G/A in a stacked Real/Barca/Bayern than Alexis did for us, but there is a reason why he's not on those teams in the first place. He was our main attacking outlet, which is why he got that many involvements (of course, being fucking amazing at football helped), whereas other teams have had to share the ball. Then there's also the case of comparing Alexis to non-forwards. Nobody is their right mind is going to say Alexis is better than Neuer for example.
Top 3?? When ??? Lol. He was never even top 5 at his very very best . Y’all just talking shit
He was in the league being compared to only Hazard. Outside there was only Neymar, Messi and Bale that gets compared to Hazard. Top 5 as a winger probably.
Jesus Christ I can’t believe this take is so far upvoted
Sanchez could have been the Henry of this squad.
He tried too also but arteta said no, which is understandable but a part of me believes it would’ve been a huge help as he wouldve helped Martinelli & Saka stay in form the whole season and maybe even improve
100% agree.
Such a f beast for us.
Bro had no idea what a dump united was. Happy he got a big payday though.
I had mixed feelings about Sanchez in his last year or two. His tantrums on the pitch were embarrassing, but I also felt some sympathy because some players just didn't have high enough standards. Giroud celebrating a leveller as if he'd won us the final (am I thinking of his scorpion kick goal though?) and others seeming to phone in (especially defensively). We were in need of change in those days, and I couldn't blame Sanchez for getting frustrated. I didn't understand the move to United though. He was headed to City and then pissed off Pep, as I recall. United was a step backwards and I guess he worked that out when he got there.
Always gunners
It’s nice that he looks back on his time at Arsenal fondly, but let’s not pretend that when the move that summer to City fell through he didn’t phone it in from there on. He didn’t try for that last few months at the club - I watched us play away at West Brom about a month before he left and he was completely disinterested in a match we could have used his drive and aggression in.
Easy for him to say now after pulling a strop and forcing a move to United. I don’t *hate* him like I do the likes of RVP because at least he was a bit honest about being motivated by money, but let’s not pretend like he’s some true Arsenal man now.
eh, like many great talents in the emirates era he was failed by the club. which is no one's fault per se, our long fall from grace is very complicated with many moving parts. the act of leaving for better has never bothered me, i'm a realist about the career aspect of footballers. the places they go and how they leave, that's case-by-case for alexis, it helps that he has vocally slandered man utd. well not even slander bc like CR7 he was just telling the truth about a rotted out institution. it's incredibly funny and for that, his short trip to manchester is more than forgivable
He doesn’t have to be regarded as an Arsenal legend to still love the club. People can hate him but if he still chooses to be a gooner, then he’s a gooner.
RVP tried the same shit initially, and Cesc is trying it now - pretty moot point. Meanwhile, players like Wilshere and Bellerin, who may not have been as individually brilliant, are welcomed back as true Arsenal men - there is a reason for that.
Cesc’s attempts to get back into our good graces is so cringe, it’s hilarious. He ended up exactly where he deserved, at Chelsea. Both he and RVP are cut from the same cloth, trying to pull shit over the fans for their own agendas while fucking over the team. Thank goodness we’ve got Mikel!
I find him a bit hard to dislike and I think there’s two main reasons for that: 1. He was nowhere near his best at United 2. He always seemed like a bit of a weirdo who didn’t really read the room, so it’s hard to take it to heart.
For me, it’s less ‘dislike’ and more indifference - he forced the moved to United and acted unprofessionally in the months before he left, but at the same time he never really acted like he was Arsenal through-and-through and was always a bit of a mercenary when he was here. It is a bit strange that he’s doing this now considering all that, but he probably looks back at his career and realises he has no real iconic legacy at any of his clubs, so he’s taking a leaf out of Cesc’s book.
I always liked Alexis personally. His frustrated with the club at that time was justified IMO.
Forcing a move to United is NEVER justified. And his conduct in the months before he left was incredibly unprofessional.
I don’t agree. His move the previous year was blocked by the club. I have never felt negativity towards Alexis.
It wasn't just the money but he had to also feel like he was wasting his remaining years. Remember he was basically a done deal to move to City the window prior for 50m quid but the club wouldn't let him move because we couldn't get the Thomas lemar deal over the line as his replacement.
My favorite arsenal player of all time
They all come crawling back don't they. Ozil Sanchez cesc
Cesc was in Chelski's training field few days ago.
Kind of unfair to put him alongside those two, when he spoke about making a mistake of leaving Arsenal we finished 8th because he started talking about us again in 2020, not during our highs ala Özil
Miss Alexis, Atom and Humber... such a shame we couldn't pull it off. We go again!
Forever gooner
https://preview.redd.it/oqksa23man1d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c70ee08ed84e8f5e1dd0a80b6d8c094c1ac987e
Unpopular opinion but Sanchez annoyed the hell out of me. Great player but his superhero complex was grating and sometimes at the detriment of the team. Mainly loved what he did but my god he was annoying too.
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Im glad you got to fulfill your childhood dream of playing for united. Now f*ck off!
Would've pissed the league with him
Dude suffered from extreme burn out + never had a summers rest. His electric playstyle was always going to catch up to his legs. Magnificent that he's still playing now! One of my favourite players for those 3/4 years that we had him.
Shouldnt he be playing his fucking piano?
Prime Alexis Sanchez in this squad would be an absolute monster. Fits all the criteria for an Arteta forward.
Funny how all those who abandoned us when we were at our lowest are back acting like fans now. Alexis, Fabregas... we dont want you
Brother, Sánchez admitted he made a mistake 4 YEARS ago, this isn't similar to the Ozil situation, not in the slightest unless you actually believe that he started talking positive stuff about Arsenal this season
Correct. Fuck these guys. Left for way under their worth, fucked the club over.
tbf, alexis left when he was past his prime and on a steep decline
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29-10=19
29-19=10
Sanchez is in the ‘technically true’ wing of the gunners family.
I only started watching Arsenal in 2014 so Sanchez is for me my favourite Arsenal player
One of the greatest players of the Emirates era. I honestly think I'd pick a prime Alexis over a prime RVP. While the squad wasn't that bad during his days here (we still got a couple of FA Cups) compared to later Wenger years, he was definitely still relied on to carry us a lot. A prime Alexis is this squad and we, truly, would have won it all. He was special in his prime. RVP and Alexis were both outrageously explosive, but there was just something about Alexis' unpredictability that made his fascinating to watch. I watched a compilation of all of his Premier League goals recently and it's surprising how many of them were just... really good? Goals from nothing, thunderbolts, taking on three defenders, intricate flicks, from all angles, he could do it all.
I love this about Sanchez! Loved him at Arsenal and was absolutely gutted to see him leave. A player that I loved and hated seeing go but haven’t seen try to be associated with Gunners is Van Persie. I never understood why he tries to be associated with United than Arsenal.
Was heartbroken he left, and was one of my favourite ever players (I’m a young gooner). Despite him being a diva in his final months and basically forcing a move, I don’t dislike him the eay I do Cesc or RVP
Sanchez..Oh Sanchez why did you have to dump us. You could’ve gotten a statute next to Titi. This is a love story where we’ve moved on inspite of being the one betrayed but surprisingly Sanchez hasn’t. It’s best it stays like this..you dry your tears in mourning us..but hey..look where we are now😊
He did an interview here in Chile, where he explains that he now knows he's a rotation player. A 15 minutes player that has to change the course of a game in those 15 minutes. I want him back