Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli knows that for his side to get through their two World Cup qualifiers with Colombia and Uruguay, he’s going to need Alexis Sanchez.
However, the Arsenal man comes into them without a goal in five Arsenal games, and looking pretty much exhausted. We know there’s no way that he won’t be selected, but perhaps there’s some good news in that Sampaoli seems to recognise he’s in need of some kind of rest.
“Alexis will be treated with caution,” he said. “He is eager to play & demanded the maximum in the training.”
And clearly there’s no chance of him being rested as he remains hugely important for his national side.
“If Alexis does what he knows how to do on the pitch we have many chances to win.”
So true. It’s not so much a case of knowing how to do it, as being physically capable. Let’s hope he gets through the internationals, and our fixtures after the break may just give him a chance to take a day off here and there.
I have exactly zero confidence this “caution” will mean a damn thing in terms of his playing time.
This “caution” thing is about to suffer from the Alexis.
He’ll just walk around the pitch for 90mins
His walk is actually faster than most people’s ‘sprint’.
It means he’ll be taken off on 89 minutes if they are leading by at least 3 goals.
Fingers are crossed…
Alexis in Mr. Krabs voice: “Day… Off…? DAY OFF?!!??!!? I don’t know the meaning of those words, boy!!”
“Handled with caution” but will no doubt play 90 minutes during both matches and participate in full training. Ah joy.
He had a groin injury and pretty much played all of their last round of matches so…
They need to give him the ol’ Mr T plane treatment. Drug him and wake him up once training is finished. It seems like the only way he’d miss training.
He will play for sure. Therefore, I think we must rest him when he gets back for a couple of games. With Ox and Rambo returning and the opposition faced, we have a chance to give him a breather.
Unfortunately it’s easier said then done- alexis is not going to be happy. Good luck Arsene. 🙂
Sanchez will always be an Alexis
They’ll wrap him entirely in bubblewrap, leaving gaps for the eyes and nose, before playing him for 180 minutes.
It’s bound to work, right?
I think he left out some details like “Alexis will be treated with caution….by Arsenal, because they’ll have no choice”
To be on the safe side I have sacrficed an effigy of John Terry to the injury gods in a hope that Alexis makes it back un-injured!
Unfortunately I don’t think the injury gods care very much for John Terry, they’ve left him alone for so many years now.
he must be doping!
It would be better if you have sacrificed real JT instead.
Isn’t it about time we clone Alexis and send his clone on international duty and keep the original at home on a massage table so he can actually rest?
45 minutes in the 2 matches isn’t too bad.
What exactly is Sampaoli’s idea of caution? He might tie caution tapes around him and play him for 180 minutes anyway.
I just don’t like that man; don’t know why.
Just chile BS
Guys cut Chile some slack he’s their national hero at the moment and South American qualifying is super intense – they have no option but to play him, and he wants to play too.
Exactly. And we can’t exactly complain if Chile don’t rest him, because we sure as hell never do.
Quite right. He is their best player. He wants to play every game for us and them. We won’t rest him either because he won’t want to be. He just needs a midweek off really. Next one of them he will recharge. How often does he get injured? He is not Jack
If only Arsene was as cautious… At Watford when the 3rd went in at 70th minute, that’s when he should of come off. Instead, he stayed on for another 10 minutes and managed to get clobbered by their keeper. WHAT FORd?!
Lol. Nice.
Caution = Bench him or play him as keeper.;)
Caution may mean 300 x 400m sprints, 1000 push ups,220kgs x 10reps bench press, 300kgs x 10 deadlifts, 5hrs on the treadmill and 1000kgs x 10 squats in training everyday including 90min x 2 football matches.
Might mean sending him out wearing a condom. Who knows. It’s purposefully ambiguous.
See Gunnerblog going on about tougher test ahead for us. West Brom-Norwich- Sunderland???? We should be getting Le Ox, Santi, Ramsey, Bellerin back, lke new signings! We don’t need anymore fear mongering. Granted we are facing a tricky situation with injury but City also have their issues with Aguero and Bony out. As much as according to the media – we flatter to deceive, so do the other teams. The media are good at logic. They tell us we have a chance this season because all the other competitors have been erratic. Maybe Chelsea had a chance last season because… Read more »
when will the guy ever get to rest.?
We’ll See…but I won’t blame Sampaoli much, there is only one Alexis Sanchez.
As much as we’d like to see Alexis rested, it simply isn’t feasible for Chile to do this for important games. It’s like Wales resting Bale or Portugal resting Ronaldo. He is so important to them, not just for his ability but for the pressing game they try to play. Hopefully he finds some form and can be substituted early.
Fragile handle with care we need him
88 mins vs bayern- what was the point?
Comment: I pray for some rest, but I don’t really expect, cos we don’t rest him either. Remember the day Aguero scored 5 only to be substituted? In my mind I felt Aguero, like most others might have been angry with Pellegrini for not allowing him to smash the records. But after that his injury, I then understood the difficult and sacrificing decision Pellegrini had to make that day and what he was trying to avoid. Though it eventually came. Sometimes, the coaches see more than we the average fans do, and that’s why many of their decisions may look… Read more »