Arsene Wenger has dismissed Alexis Sanchez's
reaction to being substituted at Swansea as a "minor,
minor, minor" incident.
The Arsenal boss replaced star men Sanchez and
Mesut Ozil in the 79th minute in south Wales with his
side 4-0 up, prompting the Chilean to kick his gloves
and sit on the bench under an overcoat.
Both Sanchez and Ozil are inside the final 18 months
of their Arsenal deals, and talks over extensions on
improved terms have come to nothing.
But Wenger, who defended Sanchez's behaviour after
this month's 3-3 draw at Bournemouth , played down
the latest show of displeasure from his top scorer.
"Looking at the game tonight, that is really minor,
minor, minor," he said. "All players are frustrated
when they come off - some show it, some don't. I am
long enough in the job to know that.
Swansea 0-4 Arsenal
"He's a good guy who gives a lot and wants to do
well, always, for the team. There is no problem.
"But every culture is different. Some South
Americans are a bit different to Europeans, Southern
Europeans are different to northern Europeans. You
have to respect that. That's why we are a multi-
national team.
"Look, he is hugely influential, Sanchez, but we also
had players on the bench who are strikers, who need
competition. We were 4-0 up. Ozil as well comes
back from sickness so it was a good opportunity not
to be stupid."
Lucas Perez and Danny Welbeck were the strikers
introduced against Swansea, Welbeck making his first
Premier League appearance since suffering a serious
injury at Manchester City last season.
Wenger said: "I look at the players coming on. We
have some good players like Danny Welbeck coming
back and it was an opportunity to bring him into the
competition."
No comments:
Post a Comment