Details emerge of reported dressing room rift at Arsenal

Thierry Henry might have been on to something.

The Sky Sports pundit claimed following Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace on Thursday night that there was evidence of a “division in the team.” Alexis Sanchez was joined by only a few of his teammates for his goal celebration after putting Arsenal ahead in the second-half, and Henry noticed that the team’s celebrations were split in two.

“Look at the division of the team,” he said.

“Mustafi came and looked at Sanchez. He’s asking them to come, and then he’s like, ‘Well, hang on a minute, surely the team is not only five?’ I’ve only ever seen that if a team is 5-1 up, with a few minutes to go. Not when you’ve just gone 2-1 up and you’ve been under the cosh. That tells you it’s a divided dressing room.”

It appears that Henry’s theory might have been correct. According to a report in The Guardian by David Hytner, there has been a “bust-up” in the Arsenal dressing room, with several players frustrated with Sanchez’s “bad attitude.”

The Chilean’s contract at the Emirates expires at the end of the season, and he appears unlikely to sign a new deal. He almost completed a deadline day move to Manchester City last summer, and there have been reports of tension between the player and his Arsenal teammates before.

According to the report:

• Sanchez was involved in a “dressing room bust-up” following Arsenal’s win over Burnley in November. The 29-year-old scored the only goal of the game with a stoppage time penalty, but tension reportedly boiled over following the match.
• The report claims the “bust-up” wasn’t physical, but some players called out Sanchez. According to Hytner, Sanchez “was told in no uncertain terms that the team were tired of his on-field histrionics; the way he sometimes whirls his arms in frustration when things go wrong.” The former Barcelona forward claimed that he was “merely trying to help his team-mates, but it was put to him that the best way to do so was through encouragement. It is fair to say Sanchez took issue with that.”
• The report also claims that some of his teammates have “grown weary” of Sanchez, and feel it would be better for everyone if he was sold in January.

You can read the full report here.