Arsene Wenger: Dropping Alexis Sanchez backfired

The Gunners manager opted to leave Sanchez on the bench for the Premier League clash despite the absence of Mesut Ozil due to illness at Anfield.

Every Arsenal fan wants Alexis Sanchez to stay at the Emirates, and majority want Arsene Wenger to leave.

The Chilean, who is the league’s joint top-scorer, has been petulant in recent weeks as Arsenal’s season has crumbled and with Wenger confirming prior to the game that there was no injury scare, it was obvious the manager was making an example of his star player.

Leicester host Hull in the pivotal game regarding relegation battlers on Saturday with the Foxes seeking to prove the dynamic performance in the win over Liverpool was not a one-off.

Sanchez is yet to sign a new deal at the club and may be maneuvering for a move away from the club in the summer.

“Alexis Sanchez has 15 months on his contract so the decision on whether he will be there will depend on Arsenal Football Club, not anyone else”.

“The analysis of the Leicester game was nothing for me to enjoy but only if you are really silly do you let the bad things influence you”, he said.

Addressing a reporter, Wenger added: “If I ask you, ‘Is everybody in your company behind you?’ I promise you I would find someone who is not happy that you sit here and would like to be in your position”.

Ahead of his side’s Champions League game with Bayern Munich he and Mertesacker faced questions from the media. And there can not be anything worse for a player than to stand still every season and have to go through the motions and play the game and score the goals, only to end up finishing at exactly the same place as the last. “I will decide tomorrow morning”, he said.

But as Arsenal’s form has dipped, his on-pitch displays of frustration have become increasingly noticeable. The Arsenal manager revealed prior to the match that it was a tactical decision to drop Sanchez as he wanted to be more direct and win a lot of aerial balls against the Reds.

“But we struggled in other games”.

The player-turned-pundit has defended Alexis Sanchez for expressing his discontent at the situation in north London.

“I think we saw on a lot of occasions that we were not ready for a fight and that’s what I want to see tomorrow, a fight”. That said, if Arsenal do drop out of the top four then it might be time for a change and the bookmakers are certainly taking no chances on Wenger calling time on his tenure.