Arsenal Must Utilize Alexis Sanchez Wisely Against Hull City

By Craig Pearson on October 17, 2014

In a game which should be, in theory, a certain home win this weekend, Arsenal will play Hull City at the Emirates Stadium. When it comes to Arsenal, though, you can never be sure; these kind of games usually end up a high-scoring and impressive victory for the Gunners, or a titanic struggle which usually goes down to the wire.

One of the issues Arsenal have is that they are too one-dimensional in attack. They almost always play through the center of the field, and it can all get a little too congested and tight. Too many of the Arsenal midfielders like to play centrally, and the wings are often neglected; that makes it easier for the opposition to defend than it should be.

One Arsenal player who is adept at utilizing the wings, however, is Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean joined Arsenal last summer and although the winger himself yearns to play centrally too, it is his wing play which will be the key to the door that Hull are about to put up at the Emirates on Saturday.

Steve Bruce‘s men are undoubtedly going to defend very deep and very narrow in an attempt to cut off Arsenal’s attack through the center. All of the space for the Gunners to exploit will be in the wide areas, and Sanchez’s ability to use that space, open up the field for the rest of his teammates, and provide ammunition for Danny Welbeck up front will all be defining factors in Arsenal’s ability to gain the necessary three points against the Tigers.

Hull could also decide to use a 3-5-2 formation, which would only further reinforce the center of the field but leave more space in the wide areas behind the wing backs. Those are precisely the areas that Arsenal use the least when they normally build their attacks, but they are the areas that they will need to use the most against Hull.

The game is somewhat of a must-win for the Gunners, and if they feed Sanchez the ball in the right areas of the field, then it is a win that they will ultimately get.

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