Alexis Sanchez’s decline gives Manchester United another untimely headache
The carousel continues to spin at Manchester United and Alexis Sanchez is the latest high profile player looking to jump off. The United No.7 has reportedly had enough of life at Old Trafford, disillusioned after dropping out of favour under Jose Mourinho.
The 29-year-old now has an eye on orchestrating a January exit, specifically to Paris Saint-Germain. After spectacularly managing to broker reported wages in excess of £500,000-a-week to join United, there are few clubs with the financial resources to accommodate the Chilean.
Not only will wage demands prove a major stumbling block, Sanchez turns 30 in December. There is also the fact Sanchez has three-and-a-half-years left to run on his current deal and United will not let him walk without receiving a fee.
It’s been a painful nine months for everyone concerned, but at the time of his signing it was a gamble worth taking. After all, Pep Guardiola was desperate to sign Sanchez, having failed the summer before, and would have succeeded had the player’s representatives not asked for more money.
Not only did United ruin City’s plans, it seemed as if they had also weakened a direct rival by signing their best player. There was hope Sanchez would be United’s answer to the likes of Eden Hazard at Chelsea and Harry Kane at Tottenham - a genuine world-class match winner.
To say he has been a disappointment would be a huge understatement. Sanchez has made 26 appearances in all competitions since making his United debut in an FA Cup tie against Yeovil at the end of January. He has only scored six goals and registered four assists in that time.
There were signs of a significant drop off in form during his last six months at Arsenal but many believed Sanchez had simply switched off with his mind set on leaving. Some are now comparing his decline to Fernando Torres after he left Liverpool to join Chelsea in January 2011
Sanchez’s failings have not been for a lack of trying, at least on the pitch. He desperately charges around but rarely do things go his way. Focusing on Sanchez live only highlights how completely out of place he is with the rest of his teammates.
Against Watford in September - a game United won 2-1 - it was particularly striking. If he wasn’t gesturing to his teammates where he wanted the ball, Sanchez spent the rest of his time on the pitch pulling the left sleeve of his shorts up as high as possible. It seems like nit-picking but it was genuinely peculiar.
Even when Sanchez does get on the ball he often tries to be over elaborate and force passes that aren’t there. The explosiveness that made him so elusive over the first 10 yards looks to have well and truly gone.
The fact Sanchez has been dispossessed more times than any other United player since his debut (61) may not necessarily be indicative of poor performance. The best players usually are as it means they are trying to make things happen. However, for the first time in Sanchez’s Premier League career, he is averaging more unsuccessful dribbles per game (0.9) this season than he is completing (0.7).
His dribble success rate stands at 45.5% for the term. Prior to this season it had never been as low as 58.7% in a Premier League campaign and even reached 67.7% during his last full season at Arsenal.
Since making his Manchester United debut on January 26, Alexis Sanchez has created at least 27 more goalscoring chances in all competitions than any other player at the club (60)
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 26, 2018
Full player statistics -- https://t.co/ojSfRK1idg pic.twitter.com/4vG9GZtAqQ
Perhaps Sanchez has ran out of gas. His career has been long and hard. Unrelenting. This past summer was his first free of international football for nine years and he did not come back rejuvenated as many tipped.
Mourinho revealed prior to Sunday’s match against Everton that Sanchez needs to be in perfect condition to play well. When you are investing more than £20m-a-year into a player, you expect a lot more.
For all of his struggles Sanchez has shown flashes of class, but just not on a consistent basis. And that’s where the frustration lies. Since joining United he has has created the most goalscoring opportunities (60) and the most clear-cut chances of all United players (8).
Sanchez still knows how to carve out an opening but he is so wildly out of sync. The irony is Sanchez has not hit the right note since performing ‘Glory Glory Man Utd’ on a piano. He has now given United a huge headache. Do they stick or twist? Whichever path they choose you get the sense it will not reflect well on a club already in turmoil.
