Saturday 15 August 2015 12:28, UK
Arsene Wenger has admitted he will have to protect Alexis Sanchez from burnout this season, while backing the Chilean to come back stronger after an extended summer break.
Sanchez was a surprise substitute in last weekend’s defeat to West Ham, having just returned to training after an enforced four-week holiday following Chile's Copa America triumph.
The 26-year-old is now expected to start against Crystal Palace on Sunday after impressing his manager with his efforts to return to full fitness.
"I am a bit worried, but on the other hand, I knew before the start that once he is here, he would be difficult to stop, so I gave him a long enough break," Wenger said.
"Alexis works extremely hard in every single training session to show that he is ready."
Wenger praised Sanchez’s commitment to maintaining his fitness while away, when he put himself through fitness drills on the beach.
"He came back as well reasonably fit. He practiced for two weeks before he came back. He did not start from zero and in training now, he looks alright.
"You wonder if he has created a beach at home, and runs along the living room. He is a hyperactive guy. He needs that to be happy."
But Wenger accepts that he will need to manage the player’s fitness through another grueling campaign.
"He made 52 or 53 games last season, plus the Copa America, so that means somewhere he has an instinct that shows how far he can go," Wenger said.
He (Sanchez) is a hyperactive guy. He needs that to be happy.
"It is difficult. In March, April, May (2015), you could see he was a bit jaded, but he is still a guy who can make a decision in a game, and once he is out there he gives 100 per cent.
"He is very ambitious, Alexis. He knows he won the FA Cup, now he wants to look to get more."
Sanchez impressed in his first season in England, winning the club’s Player of the Season award after arriving from Barcelona for a fee in the region of £35m, but Wenger has backed him to improve further.
"This season, he knows what is expected from him, and he will do better than last year."
While Sanchez’s fitness has pleased Wenger, the Arsenal boss has expressed his concern about Danny Welbeck’s recovery from a knee problem that ruled him out of the FA Cup final and England's end-of-season internationals.
"It (Welbeck’s recovery) is much slower than expected," Wenger said. "It was a bone bruising at the start. You think that it will be quite quick.
"Danny is an important player for us and the fact that he is not available is a bit of a concern.
"They have done all kinds of scans that today are very sophisticated and some of them I don't understand at all, but they tell me no (operation is needed).”
