So I feel it is necessary to preface this by stating two things. Firstly, I do not believe that Sanchez is anything but a world-class player. He has brought Arsenal to life and I do not like to think of where they would be without him. However, from an FPL point of view, I am beginning to wonder whether or not he is worth his 11.2 mil price tag. Secondly I am one of those FPL managers who likes a gamble, I look to beat ‘the curve’ and buy a player before or one game into his run of form not one game before it ends for the more cautious managers I would advise caution.

Longstanding Issues

For a long time now, I have had a few problems with Sanchez from an FPL point of view, problems which I have been doing my best to keep track of as the season progresses. My first point is simple, part of Sanchez’ attractiveness was that he scored so many goals, however, this is not Arsenal’s normal playing style. They have only scored three goals twice so far this season (against Aston Villa and Burnley) and with Giroud and Welbeck now regular starters I can only see his share of the goals decreasing.

However the thing which from my point of view is most problematic is the formation and style which Arsenal use. Wenger clearly wants a side where any of the three attacking midfielders or the striker can realistically score. As the season progresses this is finally taking shape. With Giroud, Welbeck, Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla and Ramsey all eyeing up the goal not to mention the returning Walcott, Sanchez is not the sole source of creativity anymore. At the beginning of the season what made him so attractive to FPL managers the way he would single-handedly carry Arsenal through their matches and this is starting to change.

Why now?

For a few games now I have been aware that the form Sanchez has been enjoying was going to slip. Not only was it almost inevitable as very few players in the world can keep up those levels of performances, but I was also expecting him to suffer from the match congestion and the cold weather. This has already begun to happen as Wenger confirmed that he will rest Sanchez for the Champions league match against Galatasaray one day after The Guardian reported that he had described Sanchez as “being in the red zone”.

While this will allow him to recover and enter the next match with his characteristically high work-rate, it will also allow Arsenal to play a game without him. In the past few matches Sanchez had not single-handedly carried Arsenal through games with Cazorla and Oxlade-Chamberlain finding their form. Thus, when Sanchez returns I do not believe that he will be required to pull Arsenal through matches like he has in the past. Great for Arsenal but it does not bode well for the 37% of FPL managers with Sanchez in their squad.

What this means for FPL Managers

Like I said at the start, I am not claiming that the performances Sanchez will put out on a weekly basis are going to drop in quality. Instead, I am suggesting that his role is subtly changing and thus he is not necessarily the best way FPL managers can invest their money. I would advise the more cautious of you to hang onto him for one more match and see how much of what I have argued will come to fruition but in the constant search for a good differential as well as a good gamble I will be selling Sanchez this week, pocketing the profit I have made on him and looking to invest my money elsewhere. I will post another article later this week to talk about where that investment will be going.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this article as I know it is a controversial one, I would also love to hear about any other big moves you are thinking of.

Best of luck this weekend,

Michael Marriott (@FPL_Michael)