Alexis' Possession Problem

This blog is born from a startling stat. Stay with me. I know some are less than fixated with numbers, but this is quite the eyebrow-raiser.

Our 3-1 loss to Manchester United had many moments of interest. The joint-record high of 14 shots saved by the mercurial David De Gea. The two ironclad penalties denied us by referee Andre Marriner. The red card rightly given to Paul Pogba that was argued by many so-called experts.

The fact that Alexis lost possession of the ball 34 times however, got lost amidst the drama. 34 occasions, our Chilean gave the ball away. More than once every three minutes, the ball was gifted to our opponent. We all know the talismanic effects that Alexis can have with the ball, he is capable of the unthinkable at times. At what point though, does the negative outweigh the positive?

At the time of writing, Sanchez has 4 Premier League goals from 12 games. We can all see though, that he is far removed from the impactful player we have had in the past. We can all surmise the reasons for this, but it is clear that Alexis is not the ‘get out of jail free’ card we had in the past. Perhaps this was an anomaly though? Maybe this game was just an off day for Alexis? Surely he can’t lose the ball that often all the time?

I’ve delved deep to find out if this is just a one-off, or if it’s endemic of the player. We are a team that is built on possession, so to have a part of the system that frequently breaks plans down, that requires a fix, no? So I set up a comparison matrix on Squawka. It offers in depth stats on a myriad of things. I used Eden Hazard, David Silva and Dele Alli as comparisons, and I looked at possession score, successful take-ons, tackles lost and pass completion.

This season, Alexis has a negative score for possession. To offer contrast, Alexis registers -11.69, and Eden Hazard and David Silva have a possession score of 75.56 and 272.20 respectively. Hazard and Silva also have a higher take on percentage. Alexis is taking on players with a success rate of around 70 percent - not that bad really. It is his passing that seems to lose him possession so frequently though. The Chilean has a 73 percent success rate, the lowest of the quartet of players. It isn’t just this season either.

Last season, Alexis registered a possession score of minus 243. To offer perspective, Silva had a score of plus 443, and Hazard plus 333. Even Dele Alli had a higher score than our man. So, Alexis has a problem with losing the ball. We have to offset this with the fact that Alexis is so often the man to unlock tight defences because he tries something audacious. He crafts the key that opens defences. In order to do this, he is going to lose the ball.

This offers some clarity to proceedings. Alexis needs to have a bit of slack offered to him, as we need players who try different things in order to break down stubborn backline’s. Alexis is exactly this type of player. Still, the stats and the Manchester United game particularly show him to be - in brutal terms - a liability with the ball.

So often he is our saviour, grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and changing it in our favour. When he isn’t doing that though, we are left with a player who is trying, but regularly breaking down our attacks and gifting possession back to our opponents. At what point does a player’s negatives outweigh his positives?

I think in the case of Alexis, this season is the tipping point.

We can get a player who can grab us 15-20 goals and 10 assists without giving the ball away so often. We know this is a byproduct of being a creative player, but the stats show he is losing the ball far more than his artisan brethren.

Alexis is no longer making the difference.

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