Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez isn’t the only one

Alexis Sanchez has revealed that his outbursts of anger are because of his frustration at Arsenal’s inability to challenge for the title. But he isn’t the only one irked by the team’s failings.

Arsenal should be challenging for the title. That is not an especially ground-shaking statement. Although that expectation is rarely satisfied given the growing competition at the top of the Premier League – there six teams, including the Gunners and their North London rivals who could make the same statement of expectation -, it should nonetheless be the target of the team entering each and every season.

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And yet, this year, Arsene Wenger’s side currently sit a chasming 18 points behind league-leaders Chelsea, and have been absent of a genuine chance of winning the title since the turn of the year, a chance that was ended for good when they were dismantled Eden Hazard and his agile balance in early February.

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The disappointing fate of the team this season has led to great frustration among the fans, the manager and many of the players, with Alexis Sanchez the most visible of them all. And the outbursts of embitterment at the underwhelming form that he and his teammates have toiled through have led many to suggest that the Chilean will leave the Emirates this summer, with just a year left on his contract and the threat of no Champions League foobtall looming.

But Sanchez has recently declared that his on-pitch gesticulations and sideline tantrums are not as a result of him being unhappy with life in North London, but rather a symptom of the lack of a title challenge. In an interview with Sky Sports, the 23-goal attacker revealed:

"“Because sometimes when I look at the team we have and the players here… because when it comes to winning the Premier League we often lose or draw against teams at home when we are superior. Sometimes the frustration more than anything is about the fact we could be challenging for the Premier League title. I’ve always said we have great players here, it’s just about having the mentality of being a great player and going out on to the pitch already thinking about winning.”"

While Sanchez’s comments are understandable and relatable, he is not the only one angered at Arsenal’s inability to challenge for the Premier League. Do you think Laurent Koscielny is happy to be fighting for fourth and not a trophy? Do you think Hector Bellerin is satisfied with adequacy and not greatness? Do you think Wenger is happy to settle?

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Sanchez must learn to control his outbursts and his beahviour. Altgough his desperation to win is undoubtedly a positive, a mental atrribute that drives the team forwards, it can also undermine the harmony of the dressing room, something that must be protected above the qualities of any single individual, even Sanchez.