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Saturday, 17 January 2015

Wenger backs Alexis to end away woes

The Chile international has not always maintained his electric performances away from the Emirates Stadium, while his manager toys with the idea of playing him further forward
Wenger backs Alexis to end away woes
Arsene Wenger is confident that Alexis Sanchez can replicate his home form when Arsenal travel toManchester City on Sunday, while he has hinted at fielding the Chilean up front.

The former Barcelona attacker has shone for the Gunners this season, scoring 12 goals and assisting a further seven, though has only managed to net in one away victory all season – a 2-0 win over Sunderland in October.

Wenger, though, has defended his summer signing’s form on the road and believes he has previously been starved of the service he craves.

“Yes, it's true that at Chelsea and Liverpool he wasn't at his best,” the Frenchman told reporters. “But he has some good away games too.

“It's maybe because the team has not been as effective away from home, because when you are a striker you depend a little bit on how much your team pushes forward.

“As a team we didn't play as well as we would like and it was difficult for the strikers to get good balls. We played with Alexis, [Olivier] Giroud and [Danny] Welbeck and they didn't have the ball they need and maybe they weren't at their best at the time.”

Wenger will hope the return of Mesut Ozil can provide the ammunition Sanchez requires, and he revealed that the Chilean could be pushed further forward to accommodate both Ozil and Theo Walcott.

“It's possible, he is a player who can play through the middle - but not the way Giroud plays, but because of his mobility,” the Arsenal boss continued.

“His two assets are the quality of his runs and his reception of the ball. He gets into areas where you can find him. When he gets the ball short he can run at people. But he can also play further forward because of the timing of his runs.

“He is one of the fastest to adapt to the Premier League. I believe it's because he feels accepted by the other players that he feels he is an important player.”

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