Alexis Sanchez

[Learo]

Please watch the game again. There was absolutely NO pressing at all from Levante and that is probably still what we struggle with the most; teams who dare to lock us on our own half, press hard and keep a high line while playing compact. PSG, Madrid, Bayern all showed that.

First real tests still to come, and I am honestly not confident we have really changed that much. Big chance we will lose points against teams who do exactly as I described above...

There was plenty of pressing from Levante, but we played at such an incredibly high pace with such fluid movements that Levante looked like Man U in the CL final.

If you couldnt see the difference between this match and last season, I feel sorry for you. The movement and the pressing we did in this match is something we havent seen since the 5-0 demolition of Madrid (I guess that result was also a testament to the "poor la liga"). We just barely beat this team 1-0 last season. You are seriously underestimating what a good coach who isnt away for half the season with treatments can do to this team.

 

[Catorce]

There was plenty of pressing from Levante, but we played at such an incredibly high pace with such fluid movements that Levante looked like Man U in the CL final.

If you couldnt see the difference between this match and last season, I feel sorry for you. The movement and the pressing we did in this match is something we havent seen since the 5-0 demolition of Madrid (I guess that result was also a testament to the "poor la liga"). We just barely beat this team 1-0 last season. You are seriously underestimating what a good coach who isnt away for half the season with treatments can do to this team.

You can feel sorry for me, thank you I hope you are right.

But if you say Levante has been a test for how we currently stand we just have to agree to disagree. Your superlatives for our play are something I won't use on the basis of one good first half. Yes, we played better than last season; I never said we did. I just said you shouldn't get your hopes up high on the basis of a game vs Levante who were just, pardon my French, utter shite.

Just like PSV in Holland here; new players and winning the first 5 games of the season. But really, never had any team pressing hard until the first half of last game against a small side (Go Ahead Eagles), which remained 0-0 until the break. This PSV side will struggle at times when being pressed hard, which will probably happen too to our beloved Barca.

 

[Learo]

You can feel sorry for me, thank you I hope you are right.

But if you say Levante has been a test for how we currently stand we just have to agree to disagree. Your superlatives for our play are something I won't use on the basis of one good first half. Yes, we played better than last season; I never said we did. I just said you shouldn't get your hopes up high on the basis of a game vs Levante who were just, pardon my French, utter shite.

Just like PSV in Holland here; new players and winning the first 5 games of the season. But really, never had any team pressing hard until the first half of last game against a small side (Go Ahead Eagles), which remained 0-0 until the break. This PSV side will struggle at times when being pressed hard, which will probably happen too to our beloved Barca.

We made them look bad. This belittling of our performances is something we have seen plenty of times over the years by bitter fans. If we school a small team, "la liga is shit". If we school a big team like Man U in the CL final or Madrid, "they had a bad day and were utter shite".

I do feel sorry for people who are unable to be happy and excited with our dramatic turnaround in performance, motivation and pressing. This game had the hallmark of Tata Martino all over it. We are back, and we are back with a vengance!

 

[Barcaman]

I'd really like someone to explain how exactly did Alexis have a great game? It was a good game for Alexis standards but that's about it.
Fairly confident that any other forward + Dongou or dozen of average forwards from La Liga would have done even better vs. Levante yesterday.

 

[CatalinR10]

I'd really like someone to explain how exactly did Alexis have a great game? It was a good game for Alexis standards but that's about it.
Fairly confident that any other forward + Dongou or dozen of average forwards from La Liga would have done even better vs. Levante yesterday.

Compared to how he played last season , he was great.

 

[CatalinR10]

 

[Semi-Neutral]

I'd really like someone to explain how exactly did Alexis have a great game? It was a good game for Alexis standards but that's about it.
Fairly confident that any other forward + Dongou or dozen of average forwards from La Liga would have done even better vs. Levante yesterday.

He constantly harassed Levante's defense, made runs, actually finished well and didn't dive or even lose his balance at all. I really doubt that a dozen average forwards would have done better.

 

[ShandyFFM]

He constantly harassed Levante's defense, made runs, actually finished well and didn't dive or even lose his balance at all. I really doubt that a dozen average forwards would have done better.

finished well

 

[Barcaman]

and .. "didn't dive or even lose his balance"

Woow, We really set the standards high for him, haven't we?
Not saying he was bad either, but seeing comments like he made some great performance make me laugh.

 

[poncirus]

and .. "didn't dive or even lose his balance"

Woow, We really set the standards high for him, haven't we?
Not saying he was bad either, but seeing comments like he made some great performance make me laugh.

He's actually very strong on the ball with very sound technique and manages to scramble away from tight situations in a way only Messi can. He lacks vision or at least passing automatism of Masia graduate, but he is quick and has an eye for a final pass. On top of that he has insane workrate and energy.

He is frustrating to watch sometimes, but he has set of abilities that make him potentially elite, and at least extremely useful.

 

[FCBarca]

You know Bojan, there was a moment there early when Juanfran owned Alexis a bit and I can recall last year's Alexis backing off from attacking the same defender soon after...Yet, he came right back at Juanfran repeatedly and never showed the least bit of defeated body language...He's oozing confidence, we saw that in glimpses but starting the season?...I find that a very positive sign

I'd love Sanchez to bag us tons of goals but I won't care if he never does if he becomes a player who can destabilize ala Pedro and assist on goals the way he has of late...He needs to beat his man, draw defenders and create legitimate scoring chances even if it means others scoring...Won't mean he will not have been effective...His game is there, IMO, it's always been there...I think he's had some confidence/intimidation/fear issues and while no one can be sure they aren't still there, he looks good...And considering he's played more than anyone this preseason, I think that says something...Tata pointed him out and reminded us we all wanted the Chilean player who determined matches to show up with the Blaugrana

Martinez is proving to be a really shrewd choice in the early going, IMO...Credit to Rosell, I like what I am seeing

 

[mixer]

and .. "didn't dive or even lose his balance"

Woow, We really set the standards high for him, haven't we?
Not saying he was bad either, but seeing comments like he made some great performance make me laugh.

Yeah, people are acting like it was some amazing performance from him, it was just a tap-in and some runs into Levante's bad defense...

 

[Flavia]

He was good, but not great. Pedro was better. But at least Alexis has already scored on la liga. Last season, he scored his first liga goal in february. That will surely give him more confidence.

 

[serghei]

I'd really like someone to explain how exactly did Alexis have a great game? It was a good game for Alexis standards but that's about it.
Fairly confident that any other forward + Dongou or dozen of average forwards from La Liga would have done even better vs. Levante yesterday.

He scored once, he had a 91% pass acuracy - wich, taking into consideration that he plays in an advanced position is pretty amazing - and he did run like a madman the entire 63 minutes he was on the field.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

and .. "didn't dive or even lose his balance"

Woow, We really set the standards high for him, haven't we?
Not saying he was bad either, but seeing comments like he made some great performance make me laugh.

You were praising Pedro in his thread, we're praising Sanchez in his. People don't often say what they mean, you can be nitpicky and say "Oh, it wasn't great, I've seen better," but the fact remains that he played well, and that's all we're trying to say.