If Arsene Wenger is to stay on for another year or more as the manager of Arsenal Football Club, a lot of fans will not be happy but there will be little we can do about it other than hope that the Frenchman will realise that he needs to have Arsenal much more competitive and fighting for a major trophy like the Premier League title or the Champions League.
That will almost certainly mean some big changes around the place, including our squad of players. One thing that really needs to stay the same, however, is for Alexis Sanchez to still be an Arsenal player next season. We can see for ourselves just what a big impact the Chile international has for the Gunners on the pitch, with his Duracell bunny energy and his dynamic and effective style of play, but what we do not see is what goes on behind the scenes.
Now Hector Bellerin has given us all a glimpse of what Alexis gives to the club off the pitch as well, in comments reported by Metro, and from that it seems even more vital that we keep hold of our star striker.
The Spanish right back said, ‘He wants to train hard every day, not just what we have to do on the pitch but outside of it.
‘Sometimes he’s the first one to tell other players when we’re not giving 100 per cent.
‘He’s a leader, we have loads of leaders in the dressing room but he’s the first one to get frustrated.
‘Everyone sees that when he’s not happy he’s very expressive. Some people don’t show it as much as him, but when we lose or things don’t go well everyone gets frustrated.
‘I think the mentality in the team – even though some people don’t express it – it’s the same one,’ he added.
‘Everyone wants to win, everyone wants to do their best but sometimes things don’t work. But it’s true that Alexis is a true fighter, he’s got a great winning mentality and that’s why things are going so well for him.
‘We have a great atmosphere inside the dressing room. When you start losing, that’s when you realise how strong your dressing room is, but even when things are not going well we have people who lift us up from inside the dressing room and I think that’s really important.’
It certainly is, and despite what Bellerin says there is a widely held theory that Arsenal do not have enough strong characters and leaders in the dressing room. So the ones we do have are very important and with Per Mertesacker’s future at the club uncertain, surely it would be a good idea to make Sanchez the new club captain don’t you think?
Bob.