Alexis Sanchez must quit Arsenal, a rudderless club where Arsene Wenger is allowed to punish winners

David Haye was not only the British sporting heavyweight who ended up fighting on one leg on Saturday night.

Arsene Wenger’s calamitous decision to allow his collapsible Arsenal side to traipse out at Anfield without Alexis Sanchez, the club’s most virulent attacker, was akin to the Hayemaker waiting on Tony Bellew to knock him out him after his Achilles apparently snapped in the sixth round.

Haye was stopped in the 11th round at London's O2 after staggering around with less mobility than a scarecrow. Wenger was stopped in his tracks after 45 deeply depressing minutes in Liverpool.

Arsenal sleepwalked their way through the first half in falling 2-0 behind before Wenger opted to end what ranks as one of the worst tactical experiments in his 21 years as manager of the London club, and perhaps the most symbolic, by throwing on Sanchez to replace the predictably faltering Francis Coquelin at half-time.

The impact was immediate with Danny Welbeck landing on a deft Sanchez pass to give Arsenal fresh hope at 2-1 behind, that was finally extinguished when Georginio Wijnaldum bedded in a third goal in added time. It left plenty of time to open up a fresh inquiry against Wenger's tattered job title.

According to reports, Wenger dropped Sanchez because he wanted harmony after several rows with his lead man apparently prompted by the Champions League capitulation in Munich and progressing to arguments with team-mates before the doomed trip to Liverpool. Yet such a policy has hardly left Wenger resembling a wise sage.

Wenger tempted fate by dropping Sanchez, and fate was not kind to him as he ended a chastening evening out of the top four and in danger of losing annual Champions League privileges. If you mess with natural justice, this is the outcome. If Arsenal miss the top four by a point, they should reflect at length upon these happenings.

The haggard figures of Arsenal Fan TV suddenly look more perceptive than the manager. None of those brave boys would have condoned such lunacy.

In 33 appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League and Champions League, Alexis has produced 20 goals and 12 assists so far this season. He is only two behind Harry Kane as the Premier League’s top scorer and one behind Christian Eriksen as the league’s leading goal maker. Since his £30m switch from Barcelona in 2014, Sanchez has contributed 46 goals from 86 starts. He is the all-round attacker, and Arsenal’s one reliable world-class performer.

Why on earth would you drop such a figure? It would be like Tottenham chopping Kane or Everton mugging off Romelu Lukaku. It wouldn’t happen. Yet Wenger indulged it.

Described as a "stunning decision" by a baffled Arsenal invincible Martin Keown, it was a theme the club's former striker Ian Wright, a noisy character Wenger would not cope with these days, warmed to during his analysis on BT Sport.

Juventus, Inter and PSG are apparently three of the clubs declaring an interest. Sanchez may already be lost to Wenger after this. The Frenchman should know better than attempting to make such a statement of intent with such a staid squad. Arsenal can’t be trusted to deliver on the big occasion. Why would you trust them without the main creator and finisher? Especially with their other main creative force in Mesut Ozil missing due to flu.

Yet Ozil is a fairly limp figure in comparison to the feisty and fiery Sanchez, who throws a magnificent strop in defeat, and apparently become involved in a dressing room "bust-up" after the 5-1 flogging by Bayern Munich that all but ended Arsenal’s ambitions in the Champions League before the dead rubber return on Tuesday.

While Ozil was given a week off to recover from a back problem last month, Sanchez wants to play in every game because he has a hunger to be all he can be.

But Ozil is welcomed as a walking embodiment of Wenger’s Arsenal. He is lovely to watch, but is not nearly dependable enough for a club without a league title since 2004. He does not really appear to hurt even if he disappears during games. There is a weakness of mind and a willingness to accept failure that is anathema to Sanchez.

In this day and age when players are accused of foregoing passion for the jersey in favour of a burgeoning bank account, Sanchez's attitude is refreshing. He brought such a mentality to Arsenal from Barcelona, but his character has clearly not been reciprocated by Wenger.

He is apparently stalling on accepting a new contract extension, and seeks a rise of £140,000-a-week to £250k, the going-rate in modern football, but has not allowed his future to detract from the present.

It is not as if he is coming at this from a position of weakness. At the age of 28 and Arsenal’s outstanding contributor, he has every right to lambast the perceived lack of vigour among his team-mates, memorably urging his companions to press Manchester City higher up the pitch in a 2-1 defeat before Christmas and the 3-1 clubbing by Chelsea a few weeks ago. But it seems like his desire is viewed as a discomfort for Wenger, and some of those who occupy the club’s shirts.

The fall-out from such a decision is likely to have ramifications when Sanchez works out what his next move is.

The smart money, and more money for him, is on it being away from London, a bustling city he publicly dislikes. He is also likely to feel that is it time to be away from Wenger, a manager who decided he was not the best option for one of the club’s biggest fixtures of the season.

Wenger’s argument that his team would be better without their main protagonist hints at a manager in the last days of Pompeii in Puma. Wenger is far from a specialist in failure as Jose Mourinho once infamously said: he is more an authority on mediocrity over the past decade. Two FA Cup wins in 13 years simply do not add up for the world's seventh richest club boasting revenues of £350m.

Even if Arsenal were going direct at Liverpool, as Wenger somehow offered up, why not opt for Sanchez to play off Olivier Giroud to gobble up second balls? There was and remains no logic to drop the Chilean in favour of Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain other than to make a statement of who is boss.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has been touted as a possible successor to Wenger, but there remains as much chance he will manage Sanchez next season in Turin.

"Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser," is the old Vince Lombardi quote. Wenger appears to have punished Sanchez for being a winner, but who is willing to question a manager who resembles an irascible head teacher only too willing to dole out lines?

Will the club's billionaire North American sport-loving major shareholder Stan Kroenke have a quiet word with Wenger for rewarding mediocrity in favour of strong characters willing to lead? There is probably more chance he will shave off his trademark moustache.

Wenger has not only lost the Midas touch in management, he appears to have lost the golden art of listening. Like his team, he has failed to heed the warning signs before they expose your deficiencies. If Sanchez is talking, nobody at Arsenal is listening.

The answer for such an imperious player is obvious. Do yourself a favour and escape from a club where the manager fails to appreciate your necessity. A club where a winning mentality is suddenly viewed as a character defect.