Manchester United signed Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal during January’s transfer market but things haven’t gone as planned for the powerful Chilean forward.
Throughout his stay at the Emirates Stadium, the striker was known for his numerous world-class, beautiful, timely and important goals.
He was one of the forces behind Wenger’s successful run to FA Cup glory in the 2016-17 season as his goals were all the Gunners needed to defeat Chelsea in the final match of the competition.
Irrespective of his importance to the team, Arsene Wenger decided to offload the former Barcelona star to Manchester United last season.
Sanchez’s switch to Old Trafford was happily welcomed by United Faithfuls, not just because he is a world class player but because of the events surrounding his move.
Manchester City were believed to have reached an agreement with Arsenal for his services but José Mourinho was smart enough to engage the Gunners in a swap deal which saw Mkhitaryan switched to the Emirate Stadium.
Mourinho’s smart move was applauded by the Old Trafford fans who were expecting more goals and impressive performances from the 29-year-old.
Unfortunately, Sanchez has been a shadow of himself since his move to Old Trafford. His overall performances have been woeful as he hardly influences the outcome of all the matches he’s played so far.
His goal ratio is nothing to write about as he has only managed just three goals from 21 matches.
The question that always rings in the mind of all United fans is who’s responsible for the player’s dwindled form —
Mourinho or his teammates?
As a top player, no one would ever imagine Sanchez sitting on United’s substitute bench. In this respect, Mourinho was forced to pull an in-form and young striker Anthony Martial out of the starting lineup so as to integrate the Chilean into the team.
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Despite having his debut against a League one side Yeovil Town, Sanchez failed to find the back of the net.
He had to wait for a month before he finally scored his maiden goal for the Red Devils.
Mourinho’s tactics are far different from what the player is used to throughout his career.
At Barcelona, Guardiola’s tactical approach gave Sanchez much room to only operate at the final third, though, he was a second fiddle to Lionel Messi and Pedro.
The Manchester City manager is known for his tiki-taka style of play which allowed Sanchez scored 39 goals in 88 matches.
While he was at the Emirate Stadium, Arsene Wenger made the player one of the centre-forwards in the team thereby giving him much space and chance to cause havoc in the opponents half.
With Mesut Ozil, the Chilean star often get regular goalscoring chances which he converted in most times.
Mourinho’s tactics offer Sanchez little luxury of scoring goals. In most matches he’s played, the Chilean needed to be tracked back to get the ball.
Though United have Paul Pogba who could create many opportunities, the chemistry between both players still left much to be desired.
It is safe to say that Mourinho’s relationship with his players didn’t help Sanchez settle quiet well at Old Trafford and that equally played a huge role in his woeful record.
Sanchez need to regain his confidence as soon as possible if he wants to be in the class of great players who wore jersey number 7 during their stay at Old Trafford
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