Alexis Sanchez

[PhilS]

As a forward part of your role is to SCORE GOALS!!!!

Alexis was badly deficient in scoring the first half of last year, but he has gotten over that problem.

As a forward, your role is to maximize how many more goals your team scores than the opponents. It does not matter to the team if a forward is actually scoring or if he is increasing his teammate's scoring.

Neymar will have to pick it up with his pressing to keep either Pedro or Alexis regularly on the bench. Pedro has periods when he scores quite a bit, but it's been a while, I think this is going to put him behind Alexis. Alexis still fluffs quite a few chances, but despite this, he is scoring just fine. Most importantly, he shown great progress in providing opportunities for Mess and the other shooters, this is incredibly valuable. The biggest untapped potential on this team is from Messi: if you make Messi better, you will play.

 

[Aryagorn]

In retrospect those high profile Pep's signings were unnecessary and waste of money. Ibra, Cesc, Alexis. Just imagine what could be bought for over 130 million euros wasted on those players alone.

I hope he carries on his legacy at his new club... Starting right from Thiago Alcantara

Because we had and have Xavi and Iniesta. Spending 30+ million for a player that's not a starter was not smart. And then he was played at false 9.
Should have waited for his contract to be closer to expiry and then go for him.

Well he wanted Thiago at his new club that he was already planning to sign for later on... So he brought a replacement for the kid!!

 

[ss81bja]

Funnily enough, when Messi got injured at the end of last season, it was Alexis the one who scored the most and therefore helped us win matches... Not Tello, not Villa, not Pedro, not Cesc, but Alexis of all people...

This doesn't mean much, but it's something that can't be dismissed either...



According to whom?

I'm not saying he should be forgiven for failing to score his chances nor that workrate was the main reason to sign him, but Sanchez has never been a goal scorer and anyone who has seen him play before Barca knows that... He has always been a creative player, not a finisher... I repeat, this is no excuse for his poor finishing and missed chances, it's just that I highly doubt anyone at the club thought of him as a secondary goal scorer, especially since Villa was on the team...

Well, the problem people have with Alexis is all about relativity. Why would you pay $26m for a FORWARD who gives the returns of a midfielder and they were alternatives in the
squad that could do what Alexis is giving us now. Alexis was never a classical finisher (CF) like a Falcao, Ibrahimovic or Lewandowski but Ronaldinho, Eto, Drogba were not classical finishers but could put the ball in the net as a Forward. As a Foward and since Barca plays with 3 up front, Alexis would at least be 3rd choice in terms of those players on the field whose job would be to put the ball in the net. Maybe Alexis is just not a good enough FORWARD but a creative midfielder. Therefore Barca would have to look for another forward then. Alexis is not THAT poor that he wont score sometimes but the issue is it often enough and against important team.
I think management had the vision that Alexis would be another "Messi type player" i.e a short player with dribbling skills that could create havok up front, create some space take some pressure off Messi. But when you are up front, goal scoring will be an issue. The reality is that against the tougher opposition and as a starter, Alexis not performed as visioned.

 

[evilhita666]

In retrospect those high profile Pep's signings were unnecessary and waste of money. Ibra, Cesc, Alexis. Just imagine what could be bought for over 130 million euros wasted on those players alone.

I'm not sure we could have done much better... To be fair, we already had the best players in each position for our system so we either went for a expensive superstar (Ibra) or expensive prospect (Alexis) in hope to hit the jackpot... I agree Pep signings were kind of a vanity thing, only accentuated by the need to avoid being overshadowed by Florentino's shopping sprees...

Honestly, I really can't think of a single player that, for the right price, would have made our team better, so for me it's not a matter of who we could have bought but in what could have that money been invested...

 

[evilhita666]

Well, the problem people have with Alexis is all about relativity. Why would you pay $26m for a FORWARD who gives the returns of a midfielder and they were alternatives in the
squad that could do what Alexis is giving us now. Alexis was never a classical finisher (CF) like a Falcao, Ibrahimovic or Lewandowski but Ronaldinho, Eto, Drogba were not classical finishers but could put the ball in the net as a Forward. As a Foward and since Barca plays with 3 up front, Alexis would at least be 3rd choice in terms of those players on the field whose job would be to put the ball in the net. Maybe Alexis is just not a good enough FORWARD but a creative midfielder. Therefore Barca would have to look for another forward then. Alexis is not THAT poor that he wont score sometimes but the issue is it often enough and against important team.
I think management had the vision that Alexis would be another "Messi type player" i.e a short player with dribbling skills that could create havok up front, create some space take some pressure off Messi. But when you are up front, goal scoring will be an issue. The reality is that against the tougher opposition and as a starter, Alexis not performed as visioned.

You make a valid point, in fact in Udinese, River and Chile NT he used to play as AM or #10... I also agree he has to put it in the back of the net when the play calls for it, I'd be satisfied with 20 goals and 10+ assists a season in all competitions...

Regarding not doing well against top teams, he did it in his first (half?) season, he was regarded as a big game player in this very forum, with meme included and all... Then his massive drop of form happened and people forgot about it... Then in this season he didn't play any of the season defining games against top teams with the exception of the 4-0 debacle in Munich, so even though he was likely to "fail" the same could be said about Tello who also didn't get any chance against top teams, obviously he's still young and shouldn't have to deal with such resposibilities just yet, but I hope you kind of get the point, hahaha...

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

From that video, it seems that Alexis has continued to play with much more confidence. I'm very excited to see what he can do this season. Our attack could be incredibly potent with Messi, Neymar, and a confident Alexis. I hope for usual Messi numbers supplemented by 20 goals and 10 assists each from Neymar and Alexis.

 

[Neal Faradinho]

Alexis plays the right wing for Barca, a wingers main job is to assist, altough I agree he should put the ball into the net when he is 1on1 with the goalkeeper.

 

[Shegzy]

Alexis plays the right wing for Barca, a wingers main job is to assist, altough I agree he should put the ball into the net when he is 1on1 with the goalkeeper.

alexis is an inverted forward like neymar and ronaldo and not a winger like navas,lennon,ashley young,valencia. and the main job of inverted forwards is to score first,assist second if we wanted a winger we would have gotten navas or lennon. It is team with tartget man that usually use wingers,we don't have a target man.

 

[SoMa]

alexis is an inverted forward like neymar and ronaldo and not a winger like navas,lennon,ashley young,valencia. and the main job of inverted forwards is to score first,assist second if we wanted a winger we would have gotten navas or lennon. It is team with tartget man that usually use wingers,we don't have a target man.

Thisssssssssssssssss

 

[Jadentheman]

Neymar is not even an inverted forward in a sense. That's mainly Alexis

 

[Shegzy]

1) Because Alexis is poor at the role he was bought for. Management saw it and chose to gave Pedro more opportunities since he was showing promise. Probably management chalked it up as Alexis not being accustomed to the "system" or La Liga in general but Pedro was.

2)What is Alexis role then as a FORWARD especially when he was bought for $26m?. Alexis was bought based on rising form in Italy. I'm not saying he would've won the Golden Boot or Balon d'Or but score more in IMPORTANT matches. Its like telling me you bought Neymar as a FORWARD but can only give us assists and a few goals. The stats sound more like a midfielder, maybe Alexis should be an attacking midfielder. It is the job of a Midfielder to provide "assists", find and create space and get the ball to the forwards
Alexis may be doing a job but not the job he was BOUGHT for. Now that Barca have real problems in terms of goal scoring (other than Messi) Alexis and Neymar's performance will be put under the microscope. After all you can win matches unless you score goals. Alexis may not be the poorest player in Barca right now but he is filling a very IMPORTANT role. Villa was sold because his performance was declining as a Forward, the role he was bought and paid for (unfortunately, due to injury)
I won't say fire the scouts because it was a fair gamble at the time especially when you are constrained by a budget, a player's contract and willingness to leave etc and Alexis was showing promise. But then again Barca is very poor when it comes to transfers.

well said.if alexis was gotten primarily to assist and not to score,we should sell him because we have 3 world class assist maker in cesc,iniesta and messi and what we need is a goalscorer.

 

[Stric]

The thing with inverted forwards, though, is that you should always use left-footed players on the right and vice versa. Otherwise they'll end up playing just like regular wingers. Sanchez plays best on the left, just like Pedro, Tello and Neymar. If we're ever going to have a great player for the right, one we can rely on to score, he needs to be left-footed. Simple as that. Although, for the most part of his tenure here, Alexis' goalscoring problems more often than not didn't have much to do with which foot he used to shoot. He's a special case.

 

[Irish_Cules]

The thing with inverted forwards, though, is that you should always use left-footed players on the right and vice versa. Otherwise they'll end up playing just like regular wingers. Sanchez plays best on the left, just like Pedro, Tello and Neymar. If we're ever going to have a great player for the right, one we can rely on to score, he needs to be left-footed. Simple as that. Although, for the most part of his tenure here, Alexis' goalscoring problems more often than not didn't have much to do with which foot he used to shoot. He's a special case.

Ideally yes, but it's not absolutely essential. Pedro had his best season for Barca playing on the right. Doesn't Reus play on the right for the German national team? I've definitely seen him play there before anyway and scored. He played there against Ireland and scored, although that's not the toughest test.

 

[oz187]

The inverted forwards Barca use are in essence a brand new position. It's part forward, part winger. You can try to go down the line like a traditional winger to get crosses in, you can make runs behind the defense for through balls. You can move in front of the centrebacks to receive the ball and lay it off. You also have a job trying to create space for others and supporting the false 9, and you also have duties in pressing and defending. You also need a level of ball control and passing ability to help the tiki-taka.

So you can't say Alexis was bought just to score, he's a got a lot of different responsibilities. He does score a few goals, he averages a goal every 4 games. Add in his assists and he's directly contributing to a goal every 2 games. He's also won a few penalties. And his movement and pressing helps the team create opportunities. Ultimately, it's a team game and the team has got to the semi-finals of the cups and won the league with 100 points. In that sense, both him and even Pedro have done a decent job. Not spectacular, and subservient to Messi, but it's been reasonably effective.

I guess you got to look at the alternatives. And because it is such a demanding position, there aren't many. The likes of Aguero and Lewandowski would have problems with their limited mobility. Even someone like Falcao might struggle. The likes of Navas and Lennon would also would struggle as they are isolated on the wing and don't have the skillset to play more central.

 

[Stric]

Ideally yes, but it's not absolutely essential. Pedro had his best season for Barca playing on the right. Doesn't Reus play on the right for the German national team? I've definitely seen him play there before anyway and scored. He played there against Ireland and scored, although that's not the toughest test.

Pedro is pretty much as ambidextrous as they get, though. Guys like him, Adriano and Villa can score easily with both feet. I think Pedro's goal in this year's quarter-final against PSG was a lefty.