Arsene Wenger says the recent schedule has left Alexis Sanchez a bit jaded, and that this weekend’s FA Cup tie with Preston is the perfect time to give the striker a bit of much-needed rest.
The Chilean played every minute of every game over the festive period, and despite cutting a frustrated figure at the end of the 3-3 draw with Bournemouth, the Arsenal manager wasn’t concerned, calling the reaction normal.
However, he knows he has to give his star-man a bit time off to recharge his batteries.
“Mentally and physically Sánchez is a bit jaded,” he said. “You could see that he is tired.
“He can have sometimes emotional reactions but face to face he is always very respectful.”
And on leaving him out this weekend, he continued, “He wants always to play. On one side when I don’t play him, people say: ‘Why don’t you play him?’ and on the other hand I am criticised for using him too much.
“But I always planned in my head, no matter what happens, in January he will need a breather.”
Arsenal are sweating over the fitness of Lucas Perez ahead of the trip to Deepdale, but a relatively fresh Olivier Giroud will be the man to lead the line, with Wenger playing down criticism of his celebration after the third goal against Bournemouth.
“Giroud is a winner. He is a fighter. I can understand Giroud. He thought the game was lost, it was 92 minutes. You score. You don’t lose.
“The 3-3, he gave two assists on the night. We can understand that but, ideally, you want not to waste time any more but he scores goal after goal and he scores important goals.”
Good, we need him to do well up to and including the Chelsea match, then we should be in a better position for the rest of the season.
We should be OK without him for this one, but whoever does play needs to be professional, committed and get the job done. It’s January and it’s Preston, so some grit will be needed.
I want my FA Cup back.
its tough.with so many players injured and so many players needing a rest we have no choice but to take a chance with some fringe players and some academy players. hoping they step up.
What’s Preston’s injury list like? Anyone who knows?
FINALLY!! I know he is an extremely important player and should play whenever fit, but we have to rotate a little bit more often in my opinion, including sanchez and özil. The players need to stay fresh, and if we cant win 2-3 games per year without sanchez/özil then we are in big trouble
Honest question guys. I was wondering does anyone else have a soft spot for Carlos Vela like me? Sometimes when his team are playing i still like to check the scoreline to see if he scored or did something brilliant. And it makes me happy inside when he has.
Or could be any other ex Arsenal youth player or young first team player. Would love to hear your thoughts guys.
I occasionally check how Eduardo is doing.
Haven’t in a while now.
At least we always have that Vela chip.
I do check what Eduardo is up to and if Croatia plays and he is not in the team, I check why. I would like to see him regularly invited to the Emirates and give an interview to Arsenal website or perhaps Arseblog.
I used to do that with Rosicky. Always liked seeing him play for his country
Vela and Fran Merida. And although he never really played for us I had high hopes for Chuks Aneke. It’s interesting that as far as I can remember none of these youngsters have really come back to bite us. Compare that with Sturridge at City, KdB and Lukaku at Chelsea and Pogba at United. The only one I can really think of is Bentley and that’s a huge stretch
Lord has a soft spot?
Please just win us a league title once again before you retire. Maybe go through Bayern too for once. Just would be awful if our best ever manager was someone whom hadnt won a league on his last 14 seasons. Wouldnt do great to the clubs reputation would it?
I would love it if he did. He brought the club to new levels and led us to consistent top 4 finishes when we really had no right to considering the team we had during some of those seasons. We need to push on considering the financial muscle and personnel we have now. I’m hoping Wenger is the man to do it but if he can’t deliver at the end of the season – and I hate to say it – we will need to start looking for new options. Though the best managers are all currently in jobs so… Read more »
A lot has been made of Alexis’s acts of frustration after the dramatic draw at Bournemouth. Some section of the the notorious media, who thrive in creating controversy where there is none had even suggested that arsenal players now fear that Alexis is poised to leave the club. I like Alexis a lot and have even suggested that he is arsenal’s only player of world class standard. But Alexis must be humble and respect arsenal as a great club, its manager and fellow players. He cannot hold the club to Ransome. Alexis must realise that he could leave arsenal but… Read more »
And there was peace in the Arsenal Empire. Not until something realistic happened! And the office bragging beast possess the good people of the modern world who don’t know a thing about playing football! Only for the scorpion Prince to restore peace to the empire once again and bring sanity to the football world! Bla blabla Bla bla the end.
I think we gave character but then we bottle it year after year.
That picture is kind of scary.