Chile have confirmed that Alexis Sanchez will play against Uruguay tomorrow night, despite the fact the Arsenal forward is carrying a hamstring strain.
Sanchez was seen with heavy strapping around his thigh in training, but coach Juan Antonio Pizzi told reporters he’d recovered sufficiently having missed last week’s clash with Colombia.
“Sanchez was not ready for the game in Colombia, but we knew the injury was a small one and we could have him for this match,” he said.
“It’s not that he hasn’t trained, he’s trained every day, even when we were in Colombia he did a different kind of work. Yesterday he took part in full training.”
He also said that Chile would not play a player if there was a risk of them aggravating injuries.
“All of the clubs can remain calm, we are very respectful of our players,” he said.
“The health of our players is paramount, we will never force any player who has not got the medical all-clear.”
What’s not clear is what constitutes an ‘all clear’, and after Arsene Wenger expressed his opinion that it would be ‘suicidal’ to play the 27 with a muscle strain, Arsenal fans will be waiting anxiously to see if one of the club’s most influential players is in good enough shape to face Manchester United on Saturday morning.
Oh my, I hope that it’s because the injury was just a scare rather than Chile being desperate.
See you in the new year Alexis
This is so dumb on Chile’s part, and Alexis’ part too. Hopefully he doesn’t injury himself any worse
I bet Arsene loses his noodle over this stuff because every season it seems to be that the November internationals always cost us key players. I mean It is really poor from Chile – I get that Alexis is obviously a really important player for them, and playing Uruguay will be a tough game, but to risk his long term fitness for one fixture is fairly stupid. I get that after this round of fixtures there aren’t any for awhile – but still, a bad hamstring injury can be 6-8 weeks for a player and that sort of time out… Read more »
12-15 weeks – coincidentally about the period to the next round of internationals. It’s almost as though they’d taken that into onsideration….
Well to be fair 12-15 weeks was just a rough guess. Looking back to last season when he got injured away at Norwich, he never really managed to regain his form properly – the injury kind of killed his season.
I really want to shout wankers, but as someone who’s not English I understand what international football is all about. Hopefully everything goes alright, but it’s November.
So sorry! I wanted to upvote your comment but my nasty fat thumb did otherwise.. apologies
Yay! I’m not the only one
What are the chances you all trumped (Mis-voted) on this particular comment?
Predetermined or what?
This is insanity! But I can’t help feeling that Alexis’ gung-ho attitude enables the self-interest of the Chilean coaching staff. I *really* hope he doesn’t end up being side-lined for months.
International football can go away. And stay away.
Nooooooooovember…
This is unbelievably maddening. Honestly hope Chile loses out on qualifying.
WAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! 🙁
To be fair to Chile, if Sanchez had the same strain and said he could play this Saturday, Wenger would play him.
He is not one of the club’s most influential players…
He is – the most influential.
Yeah, bad influence I reckon. Starting to think this guy isn’t a team player.
So I guess the question isn’t “will he play or not?” anymore, but “how long will he be out?” FML
It really might have been a small injury to begin with. And they would have just played him against columbia if they genuinely didnt give a monkeys arse if he is injured or not. If it was the man utd game he was being strapped up for I doubt people would react this way. if he gets through this game and tells arsene he feels fine he will get played against utd and might get injured because he might be lying about his possible injury. But he might have got injured if he wasnt already injured. So ya know. Just… Read more »
If he does get injured, next time a similar situation occurs, he’ll have no leg to stand on.
I was born in the Arctic.
Alexis needs to think rationally. It’s obvious that he wants to play every game, but why risk months of being sidelined (missing out on many, many matches), jeopardising your club’s title ambitions and your season for one game? It simply makes no sense whatsoever.
See you in January Alexis.
Get well soon alexis
I doubt he will last the whole game when playing for chile and more than likely has fuck all chance playing on Saturday. Over to you Giroud
The was a top forward from Chile, who’d play if you chopped off his willy, don’t play in this game, cos then you’ll be lame, and that would be totally silly.
ACB for the next Poet Laureate please.
It really is about time these players started giving more of a flying fuck about the people who pay their wages and rather less about their own narcissistic desire to play for their countries. Still, it’s okay because when he eventually comes back from this injury in January he’ll kiss the badge and that will solve everything.
This game is really important for Chile, probably more important than the man utd game is to us. That being said it is not at all ideal to risk Alexis and put his and the club’s immediate future in jeopardy. However there is absolutely nothing we can can do about this. Let’s just hope he makes it through unscathed. But what I want the club to do is assess his injury upon returning thoroughly and if there is even an iota of doubt of him worsening it, don’t risk him for the utd game. Let him recuperate even if it… Read more »
Alexis and Chile can both fuck off if they think thiss is a good idea. I’m no physio but that leg bandage doesn’t seem indicative of being fully fit.
If Alexis gets through the match fit I hope he doesn’t throw his toys out the pram if (and hopefully) Wenger doesn’t play him. Love Alexis but his petulance could cost us a legitimate title challenge.
And I understand its an important game for Chile, but they could risk his long-term physical health which could affect the rest of his career.
Bayern is apparently having the same problem with Arturo Vidal–stretchered off against Colombia, but swearing that he would play against Uruguay, no matter what. So, maybe we just better accept that this is really important for Chilean players and hope for the best.
At this point, we can all watch the Chile game and hope for the best, because Alexis is playing no matter what.
All I can hope is Chile score 3 goals early and bench Alexis at halftime.
This is really on alexis if he does any damage to himself.. Unbelievably irresponsible .. I do understand that Chile are in danger of not qualifying and that he wants to get them in.. And unfortunately wenger can’t roast him on anything either cause of the whole BS contract situation.. So sick of international football
Why cant all the international matches be at the end of the season ?
Lets hope he is flying Emirates, presidential class, and that there are squads of hostesses assigned to massage his upper legs (in my dreams).
Emirates as a major sponsor of The Arsenal should have an interest in Alexis’ health and should provide the requisites.
I enjoy the World Cup and the Euros but there are too many qualifiers and friendlies now. Too many interruptions to the season and then the risk of our players coming back injured has made the qualifying games really annoying.
Whether he finishes unscathed or not, I expect Alexis not to feature against United if he plays tonight.
Wenger would be guilty of assisting suicide, just as he has accused Chile, if he plays any part in the United game. because it would then be our responsibility to rest him, and show the right example.
And he just scored a second half brace. What the hell do I know…
Played and he seemed fine when subbed. Lets hope there isn’t any blowback. Two good goals btw. The 2nd was pure strength and killer instinct. Another brace against utd please.
Oh my! He’s a beast. 2 for AS7
Two goals and still equipped with two legs. That’s good. Let’s hope that he’ll be out of the jetlag on Saturday.