Wenger left Sanchez out of starting lineup to 'go more direct'

Arsene Wenger doesn't regret dropping Alexis Sanchez for Arsenal's crunch fixture against Liverpool.

Speaking after Sanchez came on a substitute in Arsenal's 3-1 Premier League defeat at Anfield, Wenger stood by his decision to relegate the Chilean forward to the bench. The 28-year-old didn't take the pitch until the interval, at which point the Gunners were already trailing by two goals, and it took him less than a quarter-hour to play a pass for Danny Welbeck that resulted in the club's lone goal.

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"The thinking was that we had to go more direct, to use players who are strong in the air," Wenger explained, according to the Guardian's Paul Wilson. "I have no regrets, except that we lost the game. I don't deny Alexis Sanchez is a good player, I bought him, and it was not an easy decision to leave him out, but I have to stand by it. I am strong enough and lucid enough to analyse the impact."

Wenger also admitted Arsenal "lacked pace in the first half" and didn't create opportunities by playing long-ball football.

"We did try to go direct, by which I mean I wanted the goalkeeper to kick it straight to the strikers," Wenger said. "But you are right, we didn't make any chances, and we didn't make enough of our corners."

Many supporters failed to understand why Wenger opted to rip a page out of Sam Allardyce's playbook rather than accommodate Sanchez out wide or in a central role to compensate for Mesut Ozil's absence. The Guardian's Jonathan Wilson saw the omission as a suggestion there is no longer a need to keep the product of Cobreloa happy and that the player's contract negotiations are not progressing smoothly.