Dirty Sanchez: Wenger set to lose another Weapon from his Arsenal?

By on March 7, 2017

Arsenal have been struggling for form recently with the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in the team, so it was no surprise to see the North London side falter against Liverpool on Saturday, losing 3-1 at Anfield as Sanchez was named among the substitutes. Liverpool’s dynamic midfielders, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana, tore Arsenal’s back-line to bits in the teatime kick-off, a rousing response to their 3-1 humbling at Leicester last Monday. Manager Arsene Wenger, at first, claimed that started Danny Welbeck in favor of Sanchez for tactical reasons, citing the (fairly incredulous) argument that he was attempting a more direct gameplan. Yet the real reason that the twenty-eight-year-old star man was dropped for such an important game was revealed shortly afterward: a training ground bust-up involving the club’s top-scorer and his Emirates team-mates.

Heated Exchange involving the Chile international!

Sanchez had an angry exchange (suggesting he was a red hot Chile!) after leaving training mid-session in the preparation for the Liverpool encounter, which saw them slide out of the top four and into fifth place with two months left in the league season. It is reported the former Barcelona and Udinese forward was confronted by team-mates in the changing rooms and a mystery hot-head had to be held back as tempers flared as if Marvel’s “Ghost Rider” was on the scene.

Admittedly, Wenger didn’t exactly take a hardline stance on Sanchez, throwing him on as a second-half substitute at Anfield to immediate effect. Sanchez set up Welbeck’s goal to provide an immediate spark for Arsenal and give them a foothold in the game after suffering a 2-0 deficit in the first half. Granted, the decision to leave out Sanchez for even forty-five minutes could not have been taken lightly by Wenger, as the midfielder has been directly involved in twenty-six goals in his twenty-six league games this season, scoring seventeen and assisting nine. Given the Chilean’s overwhelming support from the home fanbase, there would likely have been a lot more “Wenger Out” banners if Sanchez had not been a part of the North London team’s squad this campaign and, at very least, they would have lost 5-0, rather than 5-1, to Bayern Munich last month.

Another Disappointing March?

Some of Sanchez’s reactions to being taken off or dropped points in 2017 have suggested he loves his dogs more than Arsenal, while there was a planned protest in his own country to encourage him to leave the Premier League outfit, but only between five and eight people turned up, or as Sean Spicer would say ‘the biggest audience ever to witness an organised event in Santiago’. 14,000 people originally signed up for the planned march on Facebook.

The aftermath of Saturday’s dismal result and Sanchez’s omission has left Gunners fans wondering whether their £35 million star man, who, lest it be forgotten, has yet to agree to a new contract with barely over a year left on his current deal, will still be at the club next season. This is only the latest mishap in a turbulent weekend in North London, with lots of speculation regarding Wenger’s future and the absence of £42 million German midfielder Mesut Ozil due to illness despite conflicting reports that suggest he could also have been dropped.

San is a wanted Man!

For all of Arsenal’s improvements over the past few years, the Gunners having seemingly reverted to their outdated strategies of old with the possibility of a reshuffle back on the cards at the Emirates. Of course, there is always ongoing talk about Arsene Wenger’s twenty-year tenure coming to an end, but one could also argue his players should bear the majority of the blame. The club’s last major restructuring took place in the summer of 2011 when both quality midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri departed and top-scorer Robin van Persie was on the brink of making a £24 million move to Manchester United that famously catapulted the Red Devils to win the league. Two years earlier in 2009, both Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure had departed for Sheikh Mansour’s Manchester City revolution and lifted them to league successes as well.

Now Wenger finds himself in a similar situation with Sanchez, and there will be no shortage of suitors to remove another important weapon from Wenger’s arsenal of firepower. The best hope of a trophy for Wenger is now the FA Cup, which Sanchez has already claimed during his time in England two years ago, as Arsenal face another non-league side in the quarter-finals in the form of Lincoln (have a bet with The Sun that all pies – or pastries – are banned from the opposition bench). Yet the twenty-eight-year-old may want to swap trips to Sutton for Sunday’s at the San Siro as a move back to Serie A could be one of the options for Sanchez this summer, with champions-elect Juventus reportedly interested in a potential move.

Another quality European club linked with the number 17 is French side Paris St-Germain, who may fancy a Edinson Cavani-Alexis Sanchez partnership in attack as they attempt to compete with Monaco this year. PSG have the cash backing to recruit a player in the £25-40million price bracket, while Juve may still have some of the Paul Pogba cash left to burn. Both are all-but guaranteed UEFA Champions League football next season and are serial winners in their domestic leagues, something Arsenal have not been able to claim for over twelve years. That is, however, assuming Sanchez leaves the English shores, but Pep Guardiola, a public fan, could also be interested having worked with the Chilean at Barca, especially given Sergio Aguero’s uncertain future at the Etihad under the Spaniard super boss.

Homepage photo credit: Dom Fellowes via Flickr [CC BY 2.0]

About Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis can relate almost anything to football and quite often does! You may have seen Richard's previous ideas and work in the BBC Match of the Day Magazine, from 2011 to present. He is a Manchester United and England fan, but has gone to see Leyton Orient play with his O's season ticket in the 2013/14 campaign. Aside from football, Richard has written articles on Doctor Who and studies English Language and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. Aspiring sports journalist.