Arsenal: Angry training ground bust-up led to Alexis Sanchez being benched

Alexis Sanchez was shockingly benched for Arsenal’s game against Liverpool on Saturday. The reason being a bust-up on the Arsenal training ground in the days leading up to the game.

Arsene Wenger produced a shock selection against Liverpool at the weekend, when he demoted Alexis Sanchez to the Arsenal bench. At the time, the decision was strange and drew a lot of criticism Wenger’s way.

But some of that criticism may need to be taken back now. According to the Daily Telegraph, Sanchez walked out on training one day last week, and was then confronted by his Gunners teammates. A bust-up between Sanchez and his teammates then followed.

After his actions, Wenger decided Sanchez deserved to be on the bench for the Liverpool game. The report goes on to say that there has been a growing sense among the Arsenal squad that Sanchez has been selfish recently with so many public displays of frustration.

Walking away from an ongoing training session seemed to be the final straw. The question is why did the rest of the Arsenal players need to wait for such a blatant act of disrespect to say anything? Somebody should have been onto Sanchez before now.

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The winger has been making a point to show his displeasure every time a game goes against Arsenal. Like he’s laying the groundwork for his exit. Of course, the failings of the rest of the team being what forced him out. The stage was already being set.

But this is the criticism Arsenal receive so often. There are no leaders in the locker room. Nobody that is happy to confront people day in, day out. It’s easy to see why Sanchez would want to leave. If he wanted to stay, you would have to question his ambition at this point.

But the way that the 28-year-old is going about it is so wrong. It is selfish. And if Sanchez has even stooped to just walking out on training sessions now, then Wenger is right to drop him. The Arsenal boss has to maintain his authority over the rest of the squad.

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The issue now will be how long Wenger leaves Sanchez on the bench. Wenger has to make a statement, but he also needs his best players in order to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Sanchez is the team’s best player. But even the best player cannot be allowed to display such blatant acts of selfishness and disrespect. Arsene Wenger, despite the initial criticism, did the right thing dumping Sanchez on the Arsenal bench.

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