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Arsene Wenger Has To Learn How To Rest Alexis Sanchez
By Josh Sippie
Alexis Sanchez came out of international break exhausted and still injured. There was talk that he was a ‘doubt’ against Watford and with Bayern Munich lurking on Tuesday, it seemed to be the best possible option to rest him. Especially given that Watford did not figure to provide much of a struggle.
But when the starting XI popped up on the screen, Alexis Sanchez was right where he always is, on the left wing. My initial reaction was frustration. Arsenal have been rolling lately and they absolutely need three points against Bayern Munich. Even with Arsene Wenger saying the Premier League is his top priority, he does not want to see Arsenal eliminated in a group that provided plenty of opportunity for advance. It may be an uphill battle but Arsenal can still qualify. To do so, however, they are going to need all important parties fit and healthy.
Alexis Sanchez is an important party.
I hope this does not come off as daft, but I still wish that Alexis Sanchez would have been rested. It is tough to say that given how he broke the scoring open en route to what became a comfortable win. Yet, Arsenal in all likelihood would still have had the necessary tools to beat Watford even without him. Especially seeing as how Alexis Sanchez’s goal did not require any great degree of skill. It was just timing and placement.
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Which leads to the overlying message here. Arsene Wenger has to learn how to rest Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean is very insistent that he does not need breaks and that he can play through anything. But he betrays this sentiment when he admits that he is exhausted (after the Peru game). And when he looks physically drained (like in the second half of last season). Believe it or not, Alexis Sanchez is human and humans need breaks.
Arsene Wenger has admitted before that he has trouble sitting Alexis Sanchez. Le Prof said that Alexis is always very insistent that he should play and given his contributions to the team, that is understandable. But that does not make it okay to just keep running him out there. Wenger resorted to the same type of words after the Watford game.
“He said he felt perfectly alright,” Wenger said, delivering no surprises. “I had my doubts,” he added, but insisted that Alexis Sanchez is vital to the team and therefore had to start.
All of that is a given. But the fact remains that Alexis still needs rest and since he is also still injured, unless we just have not been updated, he needs rest even moreso.
The second bit of questioning comes from why Alexis Sanchez spent 80 minutes on the pitch. After his initial goal, he should have been taken off. Watford never looked threatening enough to warrant Alexis’s continued stay on the pitch. But he stayed on through all the goal scoring. The logic there is a bit questionable. If he was a doubt to even play and if he clearly needed rest, why was Wenger okay with leaving him on the pitch for so long?
It will be curious to see what impact Alexis Sanchez will have against the German giants. We need him at 100% but that is a tall order.
Next: What Pokemon Would Alexis Be?