Alexis could not hide his frustration at the end of our 3-3 draw against Bournemouth.
His face etched with disappointment, our Chilean forward discarded his gloves and trudged disconsolately to the dressing room as our hopes of three points slipped away despite a fine comeback.
Alexis’ emotions spilled out while he was on the pitch - not least when he and Aaron Ramsey exchanged words - but Arsene Wenger has no problem with that.
“That’s part of [football],” he said. “You had the same on the pitch [when Tottenham played Chelsea].
“We live in a world where you want action. I don’t look too much at how people talk, I look at how much they want to win.
“In this job I have seen a lot between players. The only difference now is it is all analysed and all on camera. In fact, much less happens than before. Today everybody is camera-conscious a little bit. Before, in the corridors before the game or after the game, a lot more happened. Today nothing happens any more.
“How many times have you walked in and it is ‘come on, cool down’? That is not the case any more. When something happens like that people are surprised but, for me, that is part of the game.”
It was put to Wenger at his pre-match press conference that Alexis’ reaction at the Vitality Stadium showed that he cared more than others. The manager disagrees.
“They care as much as he does, don’t worry,” he said. “Everybody has his way. The players were frustrated. There was no celebration in the dressing room; everybody was disappointed that they didn’t win the game.
“There is no hierarchy of intensity or desire to win at that level. Everybody wants to win.”
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