Arsene Wenger has defended the £35 million summer signing Alexis Sanchez after a very poor performance against Everton. The former Barcelona forward was brought to the club in the summer as the club’s second most expensive player. He made his debut for Arsenal in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season. Even though he played the full 90 minutes, Sanchez was not very influential. His worst performance, though, came in the first 45 minutes against Everton.

After being selected as the striker, in place of Olivier Giroud and Yaya Sanogo, Sanchez was a major disappointment against Everton. He touched the ball only once inside the penalty throughout the 45 minutes. Such a poor display from the forward resulted in Arsenal failing to have control of possession. They were trailing 2-0 going into the second-half. Recognising the need to make some changes, Wenger took the Chilean international and brought back Giroud to play as the striker. The ploy worked to perfection after Arsenal came back from 2-0 to draw the match 2-2.

Fans have reacted angrily to the performance from Sanchez, but Wenger has come to the defence of the player by saying that he needs more time. Sanchez has played in Italy and Spain, but this is his first spell in English football.

“At the moment he is not completely ready physically, but I do not worry for him. He knows that he’s not at his best physically but once he’s at his best physically, the confidence will come back, it’s all linked together. It’s always difficult to know why the confidence is not at the best, I believe it is mainly physical. I have more strikers than before so sometimes I can give him a little rest. Giroud has just played one game since the World Cup so I gave him a little breather,” said Wenger.