Loss to Liverpool and Sanchezhez row w worsen Arsenal’s troubling season
Up until the weekend, Liverpool had had a terrible 2017. With just one win in the Premiership this year, they were coming off a 3- 1 spanking by a rejuvenated Leicester on the first day of last week. But when Arsenal came to town on Saturday, in desperate need of a win themselves, Liverpool roared back to life with a 3- 1 win.
Having given up any pretense of a title fight over the past month, the Gunners probably gave up their top- four chase by losing to Liverpool. While Anfield has been a tough ground for Arsenal in recent years, and Liverpool boast a good record against their fellow top- six teams this season, it was the way Arsenal lost that was lamentable.
Even before the game began, Arsene Wenger caused a shock by benching a healthy Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean is Arsenal’s best player by a mile, and he was involved in Arsenal’s only goal with an assist to Danny Welbeck. But by the time Sanchez came on at the start of the second half, Arsenal were already 2- 0 down. While Arsenal put up a fight in the second half, the game was arguably already lost in the first. This echoed the losses to Watford and Chelsea one month ago.
The problem was not goal scoring. Despite the physical presence of Francis Coquelin and Granit Xhaka in central midfield, Liverpool dominated play, bypassing Arsenal’s midfielders or harassing them into turnovers.
But Coquelin and Xhaka were not the only Arsenal players at fault. The likes of Alex Iwobi and Hector Bellerin had sub- par games as did Shkodran Mustafi, supposedly an ideal addition at center back, who has seen a tremendous dip in form recently. These are all talented players who also play for their countries, so it is worrying how they have seemingly mentally and physically declined.
On Monday, some shocking news was reported, which said that Sanchez had been involved in a midweek confrontation with teammates after storming out of a training session. The Chilean has looked increasingly frustrated in recent weeks, especially at his teammates. The divide between the fiercely competitive Sanchez and his more sedate teammates reflects the reputation of Arsenal as decent guys but soft.
The Liverpool defeat put more pressure on Wenger, who has not indicated whether he will extend his contract which ends after this season. This season has been a tremendous disappointment and a growing number of fans would not be sad to see the Frenchman leave.
He would not be the only one who might go given Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are both yet to sign extensions to their respective contracts. There is a stark possibility that Arsenal may enter a worrying new era after this season.