BAD BREAK FOR ARSENE
Lacazette & Co have just begun to gel
SOME managers are glad to arrive at an international break.
Those on a poor run want to sit with staff, regroup and hope that when the chairman’s number comes up on caller ID, it is a call to offer some encouragement, rather than negotiate a compensation pay-off.
Then there are those managers like Arsene Wenger (right).
He just wanted to keep on playing, after a sevenmatch unbeaten run that included six wins.
The draw was away to champions Chelsea, and well-deserved.
The huge blot of the season so far was the 4-0 humiliation at Liverpool.
And it was humiliation, coming so soon into the new two-year tenure for Wenger as manager.
The pressure was on after Anfield – and Arsenal responded impressively. Wenger and his men have tuned it around. How?
For a start Shkodran Mustafi looks more like the commanding central defender who was so impressive when he first arrived.
Alexandre Lacazette has adapted quickly to the demands of the English Premier League.
Jack Wilshere is now back after his injury nightmares, and is looking good.
And the transfer window is shut, at least until January.
That uncertainty is over for the time being.
Alexis Sanchez is still an Arsenal player. A huge plus. He may never be elected squad social secretary, and his wish to join Manchester City was transparent, embarrassingly so.
But Sanchez loves to play.
When his move to the Etihad did not materialise and he was back in the first-team fold, his value was all too apparent.
The back-heel pass to Alex Iwobi to set up Arsenal’s second goal against Brighton was genius, pure genius. And there doesn’t appear to be a huge void left by the departure of Alex Oxladechamberlain.
The England player joined Liverpool for £34million in August and while patience is needed for any player moving to a new club for a substantial fee, it would appear at the moment Arsenal have got the better of that deal.
It may be that Sanchez will leave at the end of the season on a free transfer, because it is unlikely Arsenal will be able to offer him the staggering financial deal he will secure for himself on a Bosman.
But while he is at the Emirates, enjoy. If he does feel any resentment that Arsenal blocked his move, then it doesn’t show.
Give him a stage, give him the football and Sanchez will come alive. It is like they have him on loan for the season, so make the most of him.
What’s gone right? The way the squad responded to the setback at Liverpool. Character came through.
What’s gone wrong? How Arsene Wenger must have wished he’d signed another centre-back.