What is wrong with Alexis Sanchez?
By Atharv, Sports Staff Writer
Alexis Sanchez was transferred from Arsenal to Manchester United on a four-and-a-half year contract a swap deal with the winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Sanchez, 29, has a high reputation as being an excellent player at both offensive and defensive play. However, he has only scored one goal in the 8 games he has played with United.
Some speculate that Alexis is not playing as well as he did with Arsenal, but United’s boss, Jose Mourinho thinks otherwise. “He is learning how to play and we are learning how to get the best out of him.” quoted Mourinho. Sanchez has had no assists during his time at United, and some say that he is demonstrating one of his worst performances in his career. It is believed that Sanchez was bought by the club to create match-winning performances, though it is quite clear to see that he has not done that as of yet.
There is still the possibility that Sanchez is getting accustomed to being in this team, and that he is not familiar with the way that Man Utd play. However, many think that it is because Sanchez doesn’t fit in comfortably with the other players and is best suited to play at Arsenal.
Some believe that it has the arrival of Sanchez has affected the from of other players, as he does not fit in with how the team play and the current tactics that they had could not be used due to the lack of Mkhitaryan. Mourinho adamantly believes in Sanchez and says that “next season it will be better for him.” Sanchez has lost the ball 188 times already while playing for Manchester United, something that was quite unlikely to happen at Arsenal. It is not only affecting Sanchez, Pogba has been much less effective since the former arrived in Manchester as well. Adding to this, after Sanchez’s poor spell, Marcus Rashford was given his first start for United since Boxing Day, and scored the two goals that ultimately won United the game. Is it time for Sanchez to have a spell out of the team?
The player is often compared to Mohamed Salah, who has recently moved to Liverpool. In stark contrast to Sanchez’s poor performance, Salah is excelling at Liverpool. He is a much more suitable fit for Liverpool than Sanchez is for the Red Devils, and many think that Mourinho will soon regret his choice. Sanchez feels the responsibility of the whole team weighing on his shoulders, but is it time for Mourinho to take action or to allow Sanchez to become accustomed to his teammates naturally? Only time will tell.