Sanchez is still young and needs time to grow, remember he joined from Udinese (not really a high profile club like Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid etc) I actually thought his move to Barcelona wasn't the best for his career at the time because stepping up to the stage at 22/23 years old is a lot of pressure for a kid, however I didn't watch much Barcelona this year, so I'm curious to ask you Drekkard, how was Sanchez this season?
Well, in my opinion he was very good when he played, with very few exceptions. As I said with Cesc, when the machine was greased and working, he was a great addition and offered a lot to the team.
The problem is he was too injury prone. He had at least 4 muscular injuries during the season, and it's impossible to get in the flow of the team like this. Same as Pedro and Cesc. He missed too many matches. But, unlike Cesc and Pedro, I think Alexis was much better and looked very dangerous every time he took part in the game.
That said, the other negative point is that in the important moment of the season, he was just too wasteful and a bit unfit. He missed at least 3 blatant chances against Chelsea (though everybody wasted chances there), and by blatant I mean 1vs1 against Cech. When playing for a big club in this rounds, you just cant miss. This wasted chances and the injuries will overshadow a bit his season for some.
But personally I love him. He has an incredibly high workrate and when fit, he has great intensity, which is something we need to apply good pressure up in the pitch. So attitude-wise, he's a 10 for me. He can retain the ball a lot, he can run and he can score with his head, too. He's young and can still evolve and get more important in the team, but for me right now is a starting eleven player and if fit should always play. He needs to understand a bit better Messi movements, but in all honestly as Gerd said, there's the danger of being too messi-centric, and Alexis can offer, as Villa does, those diagonal runs that can cut a deffense.
So, he's an important asset for us already.
Afellay has ruined his career by going to Barca.
Though I understand what you try to imply, how can Barça be the problem if Afellay has been 75% of his time in the club injured? In the 25% he was fit, he was having a lot of time in the first team. In fact, he was key against Madrid last year in the Champions League!
Probably he wouldn't be a starting eleven, but in seasons with more than 60 matches, he can give a lot to the team. I really hope he can stay fit for months because I like him a lot.
He adds long shooting and some things most of our player don't have.
@ Drekk: I think Van Persie is better suited to playing on the right wing and cutting inside and shooting w/ his stronger foot. That is his strength IMO. Not saying he can't play on the left. He probably can. Barca have a ton of options thought especially when you consider the fact that Sanchez and Pedro are equally good on both wings becuase of their two-footedness.
Well, that's the good thing about Van Persie. He can actually play right, left or center and offer different things to the team. The ideal position would be on the right cutting inside and associating with Messi, but he could also play on the left and associate with Iniesta and cut inside and pass, which is something we miss a lot since Villa was injured. He could also deliver fantastic crosses from the left. Not high crosses, I mean dribbling, cutting inside and doing a low cross to Messi or whoever is there.
And finally, he can play as a striker or even in Messi's position and score from long range. He's one of the best candidates I can see for our forward line. Imagine if we can recover Villa. Having Alexis, Villa, Van Persie and Messi with Pedro as a back up would be great, and we wouldn't be playing the important matches with Cuenca and Tello due to injuries... or maybe they get all injured as this season. We've got the Arsenal curse, so bringing on Van Persie would make it even better.
Ouch.