Pardew discusses Arsenal’s apparent ‘dressing-room rift’

Matt Stead

West Brom boss Alan Pardew expects Arsenal’s players to root out any problems within the team.

The Baggies host the Gunners on Sunday with the spotlight on Arsenal’s unity following their 3-2 win at Crystal Palace.

Former striker Thierry Henry believes there is a dressing-room rift after some of the team failed to celebrate Alexis Sanchez’s first goal.

Pardew is unsure if there are issues at Arsenal, but believes any unrest among players would quickly become evident.

“There are situations where players force the hand of the group. Virgil van Dijk (on verge of completing £75million move to Liverpool) has done that at Southampton,” he said.

“He wasn’t playing, not picked every week, a great player like him. You have to question the attitude of him and look at all the other players.

“If we were a team in the room and we had one player doing that, I would expect the group not to accept that. I would expect a manager to respond to the group. Sometimes those moments are from a group rather than a manager themselves.”