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Alexis Sanchez is the one who got away.

Five months have passed since Liverpool FC missed out to Arsenal in the race to sign the gifted Chilean attacker.

But that passage of time has only served to underline what a shrewd acquisition he would have been.

“To not get him was obviously bitterly disappointing,” said Brendan Rodgers ahead of Sunday’s clash at Anfield when Liverpool’s backline will be tasked with trying to contain the prolific 26-year-old.

“He’s a world class player with outstanding quality and even bigger work rate. He would have been perfect for us.

“He made his decision. The best option for him.”

Sanchez had been identified by Rodgers as the ideal replacement for Barcelona-bound Luis Suarez.

Liverpool met Barca’s £35million asking price and were hoping he would agree to be a makeweight in Suarez’s £75million transfer.

But despite the Reds’ thrilling title challenge, Sanchez snubbed them and signed for Arsenal instead.

The player’s representatives informed Liverpool that Sanchez’s wife would only agree to move from Spain to England if they were based in London.

It was a crushing blow magnified by the club’s subsequent struggles to land their other striking targets which culminated in Rodgers taking a £16million gamble on the misfiring Mario Balotelli.

Sanchez has flourished at the Emirates. He’s the Gunners’ top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions this term – the same tally as Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Balotelli and Rickie Lambert put together.

His eye-catching displays have proved he would have been the perfect fit for Rodgers’ high-tempo style.

The manager believes with Sanchez on board Liverpool’s season so far would have panned out very differently.

“I think if you look at how I ask teams to play speed is critical,” Rodgers said. “Not just with the ball, but the intensity with the pressing.

“When Daniel Sturridge was injured in August I think everyone who knows football should hopefully be able to see that our game has become much deeper because of personnel.

“Sanchez was identified for us as someone who would have been a key signing and really just a roll on to what we had with Luis Suarez.

“So to not get him was obviously bitterly disappointing, but once he was gone that was it. We just had to focus on what we had.”

The problem for Rodgers has been that neither Balotelli nor Lambert are suited to that pressing game. Hence the need to play deeper and try to get results without the kind of “explosive” threat which blew Arsenal away on their previous visit to Anfield back in February.

“We brought in Balotelli who has had an opportunity to play in that role but that isn’t his game – the pressing,” Rodgers said.

“Big Rickie has come in and he was brought here for a reason and a purpose. He has great qualities but that isn’t what he does and when you don’t have that and can’t press high up the field then your starting position is much deeper, you become much deeper in the field and then it works the other way in transition.

“When you win the ball, you cannot than break at breakneck speed and flood forward like we did last year because we are not that explosive.”

It was Rodgers’ determination to recapture that threat that led to him employing Sterling in a central attacking role at Old Trafford last weekend.

A glut of missed chances coupled with some alarming defensive errors meant there was no reward as Liverpool were left to lick their wounds after a painful defeat.

But the Northern Irishman kept faith with Sterling as the focal point in a 3-4-2-1 system at Bournemouth on Wednesday night and it paid off.

The young England international scored twice and tormented the Championship leaders throughout. He offers Liverpool the kind of mobility in forward areas they simply haven’t had since Sturridge was sidelined.

“If you look at the team the other night against Bournemouth, you see the value of having that pace in the central area of the field,” Rodgers said.

“First of all it allows you to press and it means that your game can be much more aggressive.

“You press the ball in the high areas of the field and if you looked at us in the opening 20 minutes of games because of that pressure and suffocation of opponents we can get the ball back higher up the field.

“It gives you more chances of a goal, if you are winning it higher up the field, 25 to 30 metres from goal, you are going to create more chances.

“The types of players I have – technical players – they then have the skills to deal with the ball in tight areas.

“You watch the game the other night and see that profile of player in that position and see what it brings to the team against a really good side, who are super organised and could be getting promoted this year.

“They have an outstanding coach in young Eddie (Howe) so the preparation and organisation they would have put in to try and stop us would have been great.

“But when you have got the players playing in the way we want to work you can see the issues and the problems we can cause opponents.

“We had for probably the first time that ability to break forward with speed and on the counter attack. We haven’t had that.”

The midweek Capital One Cup triumph over Bournemouth may have gone some way to lifting the gloom following the Reds’ damaging Champions League exit and league defeat to United.

But Rodgers couldn’t hide his anger at some recent media coverage of the club.

“The other night a British coach playing 3-4-3 – he has probably thrown the team together, he hasn’t really thought about it, he has played seven midfield players,” he added.

“If it was a foreign coach it would probably have been a wonderful tactical idea of playing the game.

“Sterling playing through the middle, what is he doing? Or Markovic wide?

“The key for us trying to get the players in position who can make us effective.”

Claiming the scalp of Arsenal would at least generate some much needed festive cheer at Anfield where Liverpool have won just three of their eight home league matches this term.

“They have outstanding players but we will look to focus on ourselves,” Rodgers said.

“A win would be good for our confidence.”