There will certainly be a temptation in the mind of Arsene Wenger to include the man that the Arsenal fans voted as the best player of last season in the matchday squad for the opening game of the Premier League. In fact the manager has already suggested, as reported by Arsenal.com, that he might pick the Chile international even though he has only returned to first team training this week.
The Frenchman said, “Alexis is back in training but I don’t think he will be involved on Sunday, it is a bit early maybe. We have to decide that at the end of the week, but I don’t think he will be involved.”
Having revealed that Danny Welbeck is still not available and with Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky also out of action, I can understand why the boss might just feel that he may need his star man but I think it would be a mistake, or at least too much of a risk.
Imagine if he threw Alexis on against the Hammers on Sunday only for him to pick up a knock or a strain because he was not 100 percent. I know we are desperate to get off to a winning start but we still should not risk all for just one game. And to be honest, the Gunners that are fully fit should have no problem beating a West Ham team that is in a bit of disarray and has to play a Europa League qualifier in Romania tonight.
Do you agree that Wenger should just trust in the likes of Walcott, Giroud, Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsey to get that first win under our belt and give Alexis that little bit of extra time to get ready?