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Alexis Sanchez goal celebration proves 'divided dressing room' at Arsenal, says Graeme Souness
The sight of Alexis Sanchez coaxing his Arsenal team-mates to help him celebrate scoring against Crystal Palace was evidence enough of the division running through Arsene Wenger's side's dressing room.
That was the verdict of Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness who was surprised by Arsenal's response.
Sanchez put Arsenal back in front at Selhurst Park but was seen waving his arm towards colleagues gathered closer to the half-time way, an indication that he wanted his fellow team-mates to join him in his celebrations.
The Chilean is out of contract in the summer and while Sanchez was embraced by a few players, a handful of other members of the team embraced in a separate huddle.
“I’ve only ever seen that if a team’s 5-1 up with five minutes to go, you would get that," Souness said.
"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, some of them are not having Sanchez and that (contract) situation.
“I think it’s clear, I think it tells you that there’s a dynamic going on in that dressing room that would suggest it’s not well."
Sanchez's double had made it an easy looking evening for Arsenal after Andros Townsend had initially cancelled out Shkodran Mustafi's opener.
Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, joining Souness in the studio, also agreed that Arsenal should have congratulated Sanchez.
“I don’t know what the situation is there, but usually when your team scores you don’t look at who scores," he said.
"If you start to think ‘shall I go, shall I not go’ there’s something that we don’t know exactly what’s happening there.
"I’m sure Graeme you played with guys you maybe didn’t get along with, but it doesn’t matter.
“What I’m trying to say is you’re not here for Alexis Sanchez, you’re here for Arsenal. Arsenal scored, go and celebrate."
Arsene Wenger was asked whether there was a problem in the dressing room in his post-match interview but played down the incident.
"No, not at all. I did not see that," he told Sky Sports.
Victory meant Wenger could celebrate his 468th win of 810 league games at Arsenal and it came after a nervy finish when James Tomkins scored late on for Palace.
Jack Wilshere again impressed and is hopeful of tying up a new deal in the near future.
"I spoke to the boss and he said he will speak to me so we'll see when he speaks to me, I am sure it will be done," he said.