da blaze casino： Losing Alexis Sanchez is a blow to Arsenal in purely footballing terms.
da pixbet： When the Chilean is at his very best he’s one of the best players in world football. But that wasn’t the case for the final few months at his time at the Emirates Stadium. The former Gunners wasn’t committed to the cause and no matter how good a player is, that’s unsustainable.
Not getting any money in return for him, would have been disastrous, though. So selling him in January rather than letting him go in the summer was clearly an important decision to make. But Arsenal didn’t get any money for him last month, either.
Arguably they got something better: and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s performance against Everton goes some way towards proving it.
It’s hard to argue with three assists in a game. With both the Armenian and Mesut Ozil in the same side, the Gunners have two of the most prolific assist makers in the country. With new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line, too, Arsenal now have two of European football’s most prolific finishers over the last few years, too. Even if Alexandre Lacazette isn’t always a guaranteed starter.
Add to those three assists with his three other key passes and you see the theme appearing here. Mkhitaryan may have been up against an Everton defence which may be most aptly described as ‘a shambles’, but if he can build on that form there could be something special brewing.
But there’s another side to consider, too. A grittier, less Arsenal-y quality to the former Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund attacker which Gunners fans may grow to love.
Not only did Mkhitaryan do the silkier parts of the game well on Saturday evening, but he also put in four tackles, showing that his qualities on the press could be important going forward, whilst his pass accuracy of 79% may seem low, but should actually be encouraging.
One of the problems with Arsenal over the years has always been their propensity to be beautiful but all too often ineffective. That wasn’t the case for Mkhitaryan, who took the risky passes and it paid off.
Arsenal scored five against a team who were woeful in defence. But how much of that was down to the Gunners’ attacking brilliance? That’s the big question ahead of a trip to Wembley to play Tottenham next weekend.
Win that and a top four spot might be back on again. But more importantly, a top player like Mkhitaryan could help fire Arsenal to a Champions League spot next season through Europa League glory, too. There are still two trophies to play for.