‘SPOILT’ SANCHEZ HARD TO HANDLE

ARSENE WENGER laughed and his answer was revealing in its own way. “I will explain that later, one time,” said Wenger with a big smile, when asked if the decision to drop Alexis Sanchez was made for the overall good of the team. There is so much more Wenger wants to make clear about Sanchez, but is the first to realise there is very little he can say after a defeat in which he left out his star striker. Sanchez, after all, has been involved in more goals in the Premier League than any other player, 26 in total as he has scored 17 and made another nine assists. But, behind the scenes, Sanchez has become incredibly difficult to manage – perhaps the toughest player to handle in Wenger’s 20 years in charge. The Chile forward (above) really lost it last month in the 5-1 defeat at Bayern Munich. He scored and yet his performance infuriated Wenger more than any other player. Sanchez got increasingly frustrated in the second half, and angrily berated teammates on the pitch and after the match. And yet his statistics for the game reveal that Sanchez actually ran far less than almost all of his team-mates. Wenger has feared for months Sanchez would be on his way this summer. First came a £300,000-a-week offer from China, then serious interest from Paris Saintgermain and Juventus. Arsenal have made an offer of around £180,000 a week and Wenger denied he was dropped because of the stalemate. But clearly it has played a part in the dynamics of the situation. Insiders believe Sanchez’s levels have dropped in training, his disaffection and attitude in serious danger of spreading to the squad. According to sources, it has become like managing a spoilt child. The other players see him as becoming increasingly selfish and Wenger’s reluctance to substitute Sanchez or, for that matter, Mesut Ozil, has become a source of frustration. Wenger must now decide whether to bring Sanchez back into the fold, but knows it is one of the toughest manmanagement tasks he has ever faced. And he is on a hiding to nothing because the fans cannot begin to understand it.