Sanchez locks himself in his room

By 1970's Gooner

There is talk of Sanchez being rested by Arsene Wenger as he might be close to burn out. This is because he hardly had a rest after the Copa America, which Chile won. He was then thrown in at the deep end for the first game of the season against West Ham (coming on as substitute).

Sanchez is again back to his homeland for two crucial World Cup qualifiers beginning against Colombia.

Reports from their training camp in Chile indicate that although Sanchez's high energy approach has not deserted him, perhaps his recent tiredness has pushed him to seek a long enough recovery period between training sessions.

"Alexis I see an incredible moment. I see him so excited. If you move your energy to the game, Chile is very close to winning, "Sampaoli told a news conference.

However when the training was over Alexis retired to his room and locked himself in so as to not allow any distractions! The other players like Vidal and Vargas stayed behind signed autographs and generally lounged around watching the rest of the players, mostly subs, go through their training exercises.

The good thing is that Alexis appears to have realised that he needs to allow his body to recover. In this way he gives himself the best chance to come back without injury and a body rested enough so that performances leading to the Xmas period are not affected.