Alexis Sanchez's dynamic performances are inspiring the other Arsenal players to raise their own game, according to midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Chile forward Sanchez was again Arsenal’s talisman against Stoke City on Sunday, scoring twice and setting up the opener in the 3-0 victory which moved Arsene Wenger’s side to within a point of fourth-placed Manchester United.
The work-rate of the South American has been impressive since completing a £32 million (Dh177.4m) summer move from Barcelona, and England international Oxlade-Chamberlain revealed the rest of the squad are determined not to let their own high standards slip.
“When you see someone working hard from the front and maybe if they close three players down and don’t win the ball back, then you are not there to back him up, you do have to look at yourself and think ‘why was I not there to help my teammate out?’ It does set the tone for the rest of the team,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“If the boys up front react quickly when we lose the ball, it brings the midfield with them, full-backs and the defenders to switch from attack to defence. It is something that we work hard on.
“Alexis does it better than anyone I have seen. He has come from Barcelona, and it is a strong philosophy that they play by, so maybe he has picked that up there and brought that to us in every game he has played.
“There are definitely a lot of boys learning from him.”
As well as producing a devastating offensive display, which saw goalkeeper Asmir Begovic make a number of top-class saves, Arsenal also retained a solid formation, something which had been distinctly lacking when they went down 3-2 away at Stoke in early December.
Oxlade-Chamberlain said: “That is a quality which every side that finishes up the table needs to have, because you can’t always play the way you want to play, sometimes you have to roll your sleeves up, be physical and win the duels. On Sunday, we did that.
“I definitely think in the game away at Stoke we lacked that and that is why we came out with a loss.
“That is always at the back of your mind, so we need to take that approach every game because once we match teams physically and defending-wise, it gives us a good chance.
“We know in our team we have got the quality going forward to cause teams damage, so it is always important to make sure we match teams physically and do the dirty stuff as well.”
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was left on the bench against Stoke, with Colombia international David Ospina given a Premier League debut.
It remains to be seen whether manager Wenger will recall Szczesny for the trip to Manchester City next week, although it was maintained Sunday’s decision was not based on any disciplinary action in the wake of negative headlines over the Poland international smoking in the showers following the defeat at Southampton.
Oxlade-Chamberlain felt the 24-year-old had handled the situation with great professionalism.
He said: “I haven’t seen any difference in Wojciech. He is always a big part of our squad. He is always a character around the dressing room and he has been no different this week.”
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