Watching Alexis Sanchez turning over the ball so often can be frustrating but does his positive influence on the game outweigh the negative?

Anyone who watches Alexis play for Arsenal knows that he can be frustrating to watch. He attempts to shoot when there are other options, takes on players by himself and gets dispossessed, and his turnovers make most Gooners’ blood boil. So far this season, he’s given the ball away 225 times.

However, does the negative impact from the Chilean giving the ball away actually effect Arsenal’s game?

Thanks to this fascinating research by Scott Willis from the Short Fuse, we now have a definitive answer.

Although Alexis does lose the ball A LOT, he doesn’t actually give it away more than any other attacking player. In fact, he ranks 17th in the Premier League and Kevin De Bruyne leads. Although it should be noted that the Manchester City man has also completed the most passes.

Alexis turns the ball over 31% of the time, which puts him 39th among the other attacking players. What’s more, 93% of his ‘negative passes’ come in the opponent’s half of the pitch. This means that the majority of his bad touches don’t happen near our goal – the danger zone.

alexis sanchez spurs 2
(IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

In addition, his positive passes – or passes in the final third – make him the third most valuable Arsenal player when it comes to attacking. He’s also the third best dribbler in the league.

Therefore, while Alexis does give the ball away, it’s no more than any other attacking player and what he does at the other end of the pitch makes up for it.

The 28-year-old adds 12.1 overall xG value, which is the fourth best in the league, through passing, dribbling and shooting – this includes taking away his ‘negative’ values.

To sum up, he helps Arsenal A LOT. So while watching him can be frustrating, he genuinely does help the team.

For more on the statistical reasoning behind this, I really recommend reading Scott’s piece – it’s definitely eye-opening.