ALEXIS Sanchez has emerged as the first name on the team sheet for Arsene Wenger when he is selecting the Arsenal side to go into battle. That is a justifiable deduction after the Gunners manager selected the Chile firecracker for the Premier League clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
A late, late goal from substitute Olivier Giroud (headed home from a cross from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, another substitute) earned the visitors a point against Jose Mourinho’s men, odds on Arsenal’s forthcoming matches can be found by visiting 10Bet Germany.
And given the hectic travelling schedule and gruelling international match played with a slight hamstring strain, Sanchez, 27, still forced his way into Wenger’s thinking.
He even went as far as to text the Frenchman imploring Wenger to consider him fit and raring to go ahead of the game at the Theatre of Dreams.
The goal-getter only returned from international duty on Thursday after helping Chile beat Uruguay, but that didn’t stop him completing the entire 90 minutes at Old Trafford.
Sanchez’s enthusiasm, graft, guile and goals provide the perfect recipe for Wenger, who said: “It’s very unusual to play someone after that. I chose him because Alexis is a guy who can take people on and I knew that would be a quality that would work”.
“He is good on the counter-attack, good in short spaces as well. He’s always a player who is not scared of anybody. He played very well in the first half but we didn’t give him enough service in the second half because we dropped off too much and we played too many balls in our own half”.
“We didn’t give him enough support by coming out more. For a guy who played a decisive game on Wednesday morning, and then travelling after, it’s remarkable”.
Next up for the Gunners is a Champions League encounter with PSG at the Emirates on Wednesday night and the manager says he will take heart from the resilience shown by his charges in managing to snatch a draw on Saturday.
He added: “When you’re 1-0 down and you come back to 1-1 with one minute to go, it feels like more than a draw, that’s for sure. I hope it strengthens the belief inside the squad that no matter what happens, we can always come back”.
“As long as you’re playing many big games, you can give games to everybody. It’s more than that. It’s just the understanding and camaraderie in the side. It’s the common target you share. Sometimes a player won’t play in October and then afterwards he’ll play every game until January. That’s part of it”.
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