The Burning Question – Will Alexis Sanchez Overshadow His Midfield Team-mates?

With the days counting down to the 2014/15 Premier League campaign, we roll out the first in our series of pre-season articles analysing some of the biggest dilemmas currently facing Fantasy managers.

The first “Burning Question” on our agenda concerns Arsenal new boy Alexis Sanchez, who arrives at the Emirates off the back of 19 goals and 10 assists for Barcelona last season. The Chilean is clearly at the peak of his powers and Fantasy games have responded to his acquisition by throwing hefty price tags his way – at 10.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), he’s cheaper only than Yaya Toure amongst midfielders.

With Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott all coming in at 9.0 and Santi Cazorla at 8.5, though, there are a number of viable alternatives to Sanchez amongst Arsene Wenger’s squad. Should they find their form and fitness, the likes of Ramsey and Walcott, in particular, both demonstrated last season that they are more than capable of delivering strongly on a consistent basis.

So far, Sanchez has proven the popular pick amongst FPL managers, though – the big-money buy sits in 28.3% of squads, second only to Ross Barkley in terms of midfield ownership.

As the Gunners prepare for their season opener with Palace on Saturday week, we ask a number of our contributors and moderators (including FPL 2013/14 winner Tom Fenley) – Can Alexis Sanchez overshadow his Arsenal midfield team-mates?

Jonty says…
For me, he’s already overshadowed them by virtue of being kindly listed as a midfielder rather than as a striker in the FPL. With Arsene Wenger able to deploy him anywhere across a front three, he already offers assist, goal and therefore bonus potential. Of these positions, the central striker option is the most intriguing as it gives him that added versatility over Ramsey and, in all likelihood, Walcott. As a potential out of position prospect he also becomes the default 3-5-2 man, offering Fantasy managers the chance to effectively gain a third striker from midfield. With a cheap forward in place there is arguably money left to invest in both Sanchez and another Arsenal midfield asset, particularly when the fixture calendar favours the north London side.

D1sable says…
Maybe? It’s painful sitting on the fence but with Arsenal’s midfield you can never be 100% sure – over the last few seasons we’ve seen Santi Cazorla be “the man”, Theo Walcott smash the points-per-game averages, Mesut Ozil tease us before quietly exiting stage left and then Aaron Ramsey explode into Fantasy Football God mode.

Sure, Sanchez has massive potential and, to be honest, he should probably be listed as a forward across all the games. Straight away, then, he screams “Look at me, I’m too good to be true”, and the only factor holding me back from proclaiming him as the stand-out option is that Ramsey, coming in at 9.0 to the Chilean’s 10.5, surely offers great value if he can continue in his remarkable ascent: I certainly see no signs of the Welshman slowing down.

Applebonkers says…
The excitement surrounding Sanchez’ arrival is almost overpowering; certainly, when his midfield classification was unveiled, the buzz was like it had been accompanied by the news that Rachel Riley was single again. He is under pressure: he doesn’t just have to be Arsenal’s highest scoring player available, he has to achieve it by a margin big enough to trump his team-mates on value too. Right now, I’m not certain he’s the best option, bearing in mind he’s at least 1.5 costlier than any Gunners midfielder.

A caveat, however, when looking at value up in the penthouse suite of the player list is “armbandability©”. A good captain choice is worth that little bit more, whilst on the flip side the pressure to deliver as a captain choice starts to intensify as you reach a price like the Chilean’s. Gameweek 8 is the earliest that I’d be willing to test the “armbandability” of any Arsenal player, so for the first seven Gameweeks, at least, my answer to this question is “no”. Ozil, Ramsey or Cazorla will hold their own against the Chilean to that point.

7Shadesofsmoke says…
“Overshadow” is probably too strong a word. Alexis Sanchez does have the capacity to be the Arsenal go-to man for points and should finish the season as the top performing midfielder, but Arsenal have the pedigree to provide more than one stand-out contender in this area.

Lets look back to last season; Theo Walcott – the player most similar to Sanchez in terms of style and positioning – recorded 72 points in just 860 minutes. That’s a point every 11.94 minutes, comfortably eclipsing the elite Eden Hazard’s rate of return (14.30 minutes per point, or MPP). If we consider that Aaron Ramsey (12.06 MPP) and Mesut Özil (15.62) also stacked up well in the same season with almost 4000 minutes between them, the theory holds true. For those wanting further numbers, in the 2012/13 campaign, Walcott (11.78 MPP) and Cazorla (16.10) clocked almost five and a half thousand minutes between them and still maintained an elite rate of return.

Will Sanchez succeed in such a midfield? Absolutely. The service and style are there, he has an abundance of quality and even offers out of position prospects. Will the rest of Arsenal’s midfield be forever cast in his shadow? I very much doubt it. In fact, I expect to see the likes of Ozil and Ramsey benefit further from the presence of such a dynamic talent in their team.

Roscola says…
He certainly has the pedigree and arguably the form, having just returned from a fairly successful World Cup campaign. Partly, it depends on how much time he gets in that central striker position that Wenger rolled out in Sunday’s friendly. If he spends a lot of the season there, with all that Arsenal midfield talent feeding him, that would put him in pole position to be the star of the show and it would be difficult to see how any of his team-mates could keep pace.

Demi says…
I think Sanchez certainly has the potential to overshadow any Gunners asset. He’s coming off the back of a very strong World Cup and season in La Liga, at least personally, after fetching 19 goals and 10 assists. This was more than any other Arsenal player in either category last term.

Sanchez seems to be entering his prime, which can only be a good thing for Arsenal and his owners in FPL. There are always going to be question marks over players new to the league, but I think Sanchez’s quality, and the fact he seems absolutely the perfect fit in Wenger’s system, is enough to overlook that. I can’t see him pulling away from his Arsenal team-mates by a big margin, but, with Sanchez a regular assister and scorer of goals, he is rightfully the favourite to be top of the Gunners’ midfield assets in my view.

His signing already makes Arsenal a better team than last season, and his excellent movement may well bring out the best in Ramsey, Walcott, Cazorla and Ozil. My overriding feeling is that whoever stays the most injury-free will come out on top, but whether Sanchez bridge that 1.5 value gap, is something that seems impossible to answer for now.

Evs says…
I certainly think he’s the ‘flair’ pick for this pre-season ahead of the opening Gameweek and could even prove to be the FPL top points scoring player in a free-flowing, high-scoring Arsenal team.

Sanchez has done it a the highest level, and with a strong potential that he could be moved centrally when Theo Walcott returns, what’s not to like?

For me it’s easier to go in with him than without him. My only fear is that if Aaron Ramsey continues as he did (when fit) last season then he would he be better value for money, but there’s not doubting Sanchez ability and potential to rack up points. For now, he’s listed as my top target in the midfield.

Tom Fenley says…
Over the season, yes, I think he will come out on top. As he’s classified as a midfielder, he’s a pretty low risk option. We’ve seen the points scoring that can come the way of that role of winger/striker in an Arsenal side via Theo Walcott and Sanchez is a better player who should be more robust.

Aaron Ramsey has to be considered his strongest rival and I can see a double up being profitable when they have good fixtures. If the Welshman maintains last season’s form he may even edge it due to price, but Sanchez is likely to be playing up front some of the time and a lot will go through him.

Ozil and Cazorla don’t score enough goals and are too inconsistent and Walcott is always an injury risk. Sanchez should fit in with the team very well, the only doubt is whether he suffers a slow start and takes time to adjust, so I am leaning towards Ramsey in Gameweek 1. By the end of the season, I imagine Sanchez will be in almost every top team.

Swanny 14 says…
Rewind a year and we were all sat at the opening of the 2013/14 season asking ourselves the same question about another of Arsenal’s midfield assets – Theo Walcott. A haul of just 72 points for the winger, albeit due to an injury-strewn campaign, proves that these things are not easy to predict. Nonetheless, even if Walcott had stayed fit, one thing is for sure: he still wouldn’t have managed to overshadow Aaron Ramsey.

FPL have handed Sanchez a 10.5 price tag in his first season of Premier League action, 1.5 more than Ramsey, despite the latter’s dominant Fantasy performance in the season past. Sure, if Sanchez is frequently fielded as a striker and brings his Barcelona output, then he will undoubtedly prove a Fantasy favourite, but I still don’t think Ramsey will be hiding in anybody’s shadow.

Let’s not ignore the fact that both Sanchez and Ramsey already reside in 28% and 21% of teams respectively, percentages that will only increase if they get off to a good start. As we saw last year, managers with Luis Suarez in their squads rapidly pulled away from the pack, but then still had to battle it out amongst themselves, and with the likes of Ozil and Cazorla currently lurking in the shadows, it may be the case that these ‘differentials’ in the Arsenal midfield actually become major factors in our mini leagues.

Mark Says…
I promised myself that I’d opt for Aaron Ramsey from day one. My ill-placed reluctance to acquire the brilliant Welshman stung me last season and I’d swear I’d resist falling into the trap again. Then Sanchez arrived at the Emirates.

Even as a striker the Chilean rivals the appeal of Ramsey, Walcott et al. As a fellow midfielder, it seems remiss to overlook his talents.

With Wenger billing Sanchez as a striker, there’s every chance that he’ll be given the freedom to work in tandem with Giroud or even replace him as Arsenal’s central attacking threat at times. With Walcott’s injury record and just the remote possibility that Ramsey may be shackled by a deeper role on occasions, I’m finding it difficult to resist the Chilean’s charms. I have consider that, when Walcott is fit, Wenger has to fit Sanchez in the side: that’s surely either going to be as a central striker, or ahead of Ramsey, pushed up in support of Giroud.

As it stands, I’ve got Sanchez in my FPL lineup, then, with Ramsey offering a tantalising “downgrade”. For me, the lure of any midfielder playing as a striker is strong. When it’s a true world-class talent, it’s almost irresistible.

Over the season, I believe Sanchez will outscore his team-mates – the margin will depend on Ramsey’s ability to maintain his meteoric rise and Walcott’s injury record. Initially, Sanchez may be off the beat although, within a few months, I expect him to show his class and confirm his heavy-hitter status. By then, the 10.5 FPL asking price may just look like a bargain and I don’t know if I can risk the surgery that will be required to get on board at that point.