Arsenal: Arsene Wenger Taking Shots At Alexis Sanchez With ‘Unity’

After the 5-0 win over Lincoln City, Arsene Wenger has asked for unity in the Arsenal dressing room, taking justified shots at Alexis Sanchez in the process.

It was an important win for Arsenal on Saturday. After some torrid results and even worse performances, primarily the successive 5-1 losses to Bayern, the Premier League title ending loss to Chelsea and the abject 2-1 loss to Liverpool just a week ago, to engineer some positive feeling around the club is an important result of the victory.

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Arsene Wenger has received much criticism for the clubs failures in recent months, with many – even former staunch defenders of the long-time manager – calling for him to end his tenure in North London when his contract expires at the end of the season.

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In such a vociferous atmosphere, under the pressures of modern football with demanding fans, Wenger must still steer this sheep through the remainder of the season, in which their top four place is in jeopardy and the chance of another FA Cup, their third in four years. As such, in an interview with BT Sport after his side’s five-goal dismantling of non-league Lincoln City, Wenger stated that he wants to see his first team squad united:

"“You know how it is, we recently had a big disappointment in the Champions League, after that in our job you have to respond in the next game. Therefore you need players who are solid mentally and united, the experience is easier when you’ve gone through difficult periods before than if you’ve never known it.”"

It is a sensible comment to make as he looks to recover from a horrendous run of form and results. However, it is clearly a critique aimed at one man in particular, although Wenger would never admit so, especially given his usual loyalty to his players when in a public context.

Alexis Sanchez was the target of his comments, and rightfully so. The Chilean has been the subject of great transfer rumours throughout the year, with his contract having just a year remaining when the summer comes around. In the midst of all this uncertainty and rumour, he was dropped for the Liverpool loss last week after a training ground bust-up.

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Sanchez is certainly a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and is known for his strops and tantrums on the pitch when he feels his teammates are underperforming. While the desperation to win is a mental state that Arsenal are in need of, it should not come at the detriment of the dressing room, something that Wenger is evidently acutely aware of.