Arsene Wenger believes he’s gotten to the bottom of Alexis Sanchez’s inconsistent form this season and apparently it has nothing to do with his contract situation with Arsenal.

Alexis has been really inconsistent this season. From putting in a great performance and scoring against Spurs, to going missing for most of the match against Southampton. It’s been frustrating beyond belief. However, Wenger reckons this is because he’s played in a slightly different position this term.

“I think he struggles a bit at the moment to score as much as last year but last year he played much more at centre-forward,” Wenger said.

“This year I believe in games like Southampton he came a bit too deep. We play against teams that play very, very deep and I feel he loves to touch the ball so when he doesn’t get it as much as he wants he comes deep, but when you come deep you can’t score.

“It is as simple as that so maybe he has to find a better balance in his positional play.”

Last term, Alexis played 17 games on the left wing and 25 as the main striker, as well as a handful as an attacking midfielder after the boss changed the formation to 3-4-2-1. Therefore, while he did spend most of his time up front, it was only marginally and for the first four months of the season. After December, he moved out left and then he eventually moved behind the striker alongside Mesut Ozil.

While Wenger’s excuse for Alexis playing poorly does make sense, since he’s not getting as many chances in front of goal any more and has to perhaps hold onto the ball even longer, there’s still been something off about the Chilean’s moody displays.

To me, it just seems as if the 28-year-old can’t be bothered anymore, since he’s proven more than once that he’s capable of producing a moment of brilliance. Like against Southampton, when he assisted Olivier Giroud’s equaliser. It just feels like the Chilean chooses not to at the moment. I hope I’m wrong.

On another note, is this a hint from Wenger that he’s going to start Alexis up front against West Ham?