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Wenger - Alexis was one of the sharpest

Arsene Wenger was pleased with Alexis Sanchez's first contribution as an Arsenal player and says the Chilean was one of the sharpest players on show at the Emirates Cup.

Alexis played 73 minutes in the Gunners' 1-0 defeat to Monaco on Sunday after making a late substitute appearance in the 5-1 victory over Benfica on Saturday.

Despite his team's flat performance against the Ligue 1 side, Wenger took plenty of positives from the tournament.

"I believe that this weekend was very positive overall because it allows us to improve the fitness and to dig deep to get sharper," he told Arsenal Player.

"He was mobile and he made some good runs"

"We don't have too much time to prepare for the first league game so it was important today to work hard. I feel that next week we'll be much better.

"Alexis was quite sharp - one of the sharpest because he was mobile and he made some good runs. We didn't have too many balls to feed him, he lacks a bit of sharpness to make the complete difference and he had a chance as well.

"Overall, I'm happy with his start."

Arsenal struggled to break down a stubborn Monaco side and Wenger believes the game demonstrated that his team still have work to do before the Premier League kick-off.

"It took us 45 minutes to get into the game," he said. "Some players were not at the races at all today. It just shows you that from 24 hours a lot can change in our game.

'We have to take it as a positive and it's a warning for us; when you're not ready physically, you're nobody. Too many players were not at the level."

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