Wenger: Ozil and Alexis proved Arsenal commitment in Everton thrashing

Joe Wright

Wenger: Ozil and Alexis proved Arsenal commitment in Everton thrashing image

Arsene Wenger insists Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez showed their commitment to Arsenal in the win over Everton.

Ozil, 29, and Alexis, 28, have both entered the final year of their current contracts at the club, leading to speculation regarding their futures at the Emirates Stadium.

Sanchez 11/4 FGS v Swansea

Germany playmaker Ozil has been linked with Manchester United, while Alexis failed to secure a move to Manchester City in the summer.

However, both stars put in strong performances as Arsenal thrashed Everton 5-2 last Sunday, which was evidence that the duo are fully focussed on helping the club succeed according to Wenger.

"He [Ozil] is in very good shape physically and is focused, motivated, so I would say yes," Wenger told a news conference when asked if Ozil is back to his best.

"He had a knee problem, it wasn't a massive problem but you never know how much it affects the guys.

"What people questioned is their commitment to the team and the club. I didn’t and what happened on Sunday reinforces my belief even more. What we want from them is to show that week in, week out."

Alexis Sanchez Arsenal Everton

The Everton game was the first time in which Ozil, Sanchez and record-signing Alexandre Lacazette started a match together for the Gunners.

Wenger hopes his side continue to provide a platform for the front three to shine when they take on Swansea City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

"They can create chances, they can score goals, but I believe as well that up front you depend a lot on the quality of the build-up at the back and at home the speed of our passing will be absolutely important to create chances," he said.

"We should have a little boost in confidence from the goals we scored at Everton but we need to be highly focused.

"We have no room for missing games anymore because we have had some bad results away from home. I always said we are capable of winning away games, but we also need to preserve our impeccable home record. We need to keep that.

"We know, from the Everton game, that we can win away from home and that is very important."

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.