adminLIVERPOOL. — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted he had no regrets about axing Alexis Sanchez – despite seeing his Gunners side suffer at Anfield on Saturday night.
Wenger has also admitted his decision to drop top scorer Sanchez backfired in the 3-1 defeat at Anfield.
Sanchez was dropped to the bench as Wenger took the route-one option offered by Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck.
But the decision backfired as Liverpool emerged 3-1 winners thanks to goals by Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Gini Wijnaldum.
A defiant Wenger said: “I have no regrets. My only regret is that we lost the game.
“Decisions like that aren’t easy to make but I am strong enough to make them.
“My thinking with Alexis was that we had to be more direct and I wanted two players who were strong in the the air.
“I know Alexis Sanchez is a great player – I bought him. You can focus on what you want, but for every single player it’s the same.
“People ask me why I don’t keep strikers on the pitch. When I do it is still wrong.
“Yes (it did backfire) but I felt that in the first half the strikers suffered because we didn’t dominate in the midfield and in the second half you could see that it was easier because Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud were much better, so it’s always debatable,” said Wenger.
“The thinking was that we had to go more direct and I wanted to play two players who were strong in the air and after that to bring on Alexis Sanchez in the second half.
“We did go direct in the first half. We didn’t create any chances and we didn’t make enough of our corners. — The Mirror
Online Reporter