Only one player covered less distance than Alexis Sanchez during the full 90 minutes of Saturday’s match against Swansea, and the Chilean’s top speed was even slower than Mertesacker’s.

Alexis never really got going against the Welsh side after a decent first 10 minutes. He created two chances, both of which came in the first eight minutes of the match, but other than that had a poor game, only getting one shot on target and giving the ball away with a third of his passes.

The Mirror report that more than a poor technical performance, Alexis also didn’t seem to bring much enthusiasm or energy to proceedings. Of the eight outfield players who completed 90 minutes, Alexis covered less distance (9.4km) than any of them except Per Mertesacker (9.2km). His top speed of 31.1 km/h was slower than Per’s (31.8 km/h) as well. That’s the same Per Mertesacker who is often talked about as if he’s the slowest player the world has ever see.

Even Alexis’ ability to take players on was lacking. Although he did win three free-kicks (again, two of which were in the first 10 minutes), Alexis didn’t complete a single take-on, according to the stats from Squawka. All of which suggests that after a confident start, he let the rest of the game pass him by.

Fortunately for the Gunners, the likes of Mesut Özil, Sead Kolašinac and Aaron Ramsey kept fighting and secured the win, but these are worrying signs ahead of the big trip to Manchester City next week.