Robert Pires has told beIN Sports that he was present at Arsenal training when Alexis Sanchez was supposed to have stormed off after a ‘bust up’ and said the claims are ‘false’.
Echoing what Arsene Wenger said about the alleged incident, Pires said that it was nothing more than a bad tackle (Gabriel, anyone?) on the Chilean, a clash as you’d expect if someone got hit hard, and then Alexis left the pitch:
Pires on Bein Sports: 'Claims in press there was a fight are false. I was there. There was a bad tackle on AS, a clash, he left the pitch'
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) March 7, 2017
However…
Pires: 'Fans have to understand. There was a disciplinary sanction. Nothing serious happened. I was there yesterday too.. no problem' (BeIN)
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) March 7, 2017
yes, he was clear about that. 'AW decided to punish Alexis for his behaviour', he said
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) March 7, 2017
Pires also confirms on @beinsports_FR that when Sanchez walked out of training, Laurent Koscielny followed, as captain, to talk to him'
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) March 7, 2017
As Amy Lawrence pointed out in her piece in the Guardian today, back when the Invincibles were at the club, training ground fights and arguments were a common thing. It’s a whole lot of something over nothing.
One player getting annoyed when another tackles him poorly happens – at ALL clubs.