[Pogue Mahone]

By all accounts, Sanchez was just as crap at Arsenal this season as he has been for us. Which everyone put down to him getting sick of Arsenal being shit and basically not bothering to try. So there has to be more to this than our style of play.

So there’s really only two scenarios here. One is that he’s another Rooney. Over the hill far younger than his peers. That’s the bad one. The less depressing scenario is that you can’t just turn elite level performances on and off. He’s been under-performing for so long that he likely won’t get near his best again between now and the end of the season but a reboot over the summer should sort him out. I obviously hope this is the scenario that we’re witnessing.

 

[MUFC OK]

Could just be an issue of tiredness, he played in the confederation cup last summer and Chile got to the final. Perhaps no world cup is a good thing for him to rest and reset in time for next season. Then again, perhaps I am just looking for excuses. He's still a top player and will come good for us in my opinion.

 

[Lennon7]

By all accounts, Sanchez was just as crap at Arsenal this season as he has been for us. Which everyone put down to him getting sick of Arsenal being shit and basically not bothering to try. So there has to be more to this than our style of play.

So there’s really only two scenarios here. One is that he’s another Rooney. Over the hill far younger than his peers. That’s the bad one. The less depressing scenario is that you can’t just turn elite level performances on and off. He’s been under-performing for so long that he likely won’t get near his best again between now and the end of the season but a reboot over the summer should sort him out. I obviously hope this is the scenario that we’re witnessing.

I don’t think he’s been anywhere near as bad this season as over the hill Rooney was, especially in his later years. He’s had a few great performances, including basically getting us to the FA cup final.

He’ll come good next season. I think Sanchez is too physically fit and strong to be declining already - Rooney was clearly out of shape during his decline and lost his pace and power.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I don’t think he’s been anywhere near as bad this season as over the hill Rooney was, especially in his later years. He’s had a few great performances, including basically getting us to the FA cup final.

He’ll come good next season. I think Sanchez is too physically fit and strong to be declining already - Rooney was clearly out of shape during his decline and lost his pace and power.

Oh I agree. Was only using Rooney as an analogy for someone who goes into decline at an atypically young age.

 

[Bobski]

He has been playing summer football for years so there is a decent chance he has been suffering from burnout. His absolute peak years are probably behind him but he could still have at least 2 really strong years before the decline becomes significant. Still not convinced he is the right player for Utd despite that, but the contract means we are going to find out.

 

[breakout67]

By all accounts, Sanchez was just as crap at Arsenal this season as he has been for us. Which everyone put down to him getting sick of Arsenal being shit and basically not bothering to try. So there has to be more to this than our style of play.

So there’s really only two scenarios here. One is that he’s another Rooney. Over the hill far younger than his peers. That’s the bad one. The less depressing scenario is that you can’t just turn elite level performances on and off. He’s been under-performing for so long that he likely won’t get near his best again between now and the end of the season but a reboot over the summer should sort him out. I obviously hope this is the scenario that we’re witnessing.

He has had no break from football for 3-4 years due to Chile taking up his time when he should be resting. According to his former teammates, he is extremely dedicated to his fitness.

I think he'll never get you 30 goals and 19 assists like he did last season for Arsenal, but his regular output of 30-40 goals and assists is what you can expect.

 

[ManuMou]

Any chance Sanchez move to AM or RW for Martial next season ?

 

[Garethw]

Any chance Sanchez move to AM or RW for Martial next season ?

Not unless we change managers.

 

[Eugenius]

Oh I agree. Was only using Rooney as an analogy for someone who goes into decline at an atypically young age.

The similarities with Rooney scary though. Playing deeper, less direct and avoiding 1vs1 situations. Clearly doesn't trust his ability to get past a man, and compensating by trying to play Hollywood passes instead.

 

[Brwned]

Oh I agree. Was only using Rooney as an analogy for someone who goes into decline at an atypically young age.

Just to expand on that Rooney comparison briefly, it's worth noting that Sanchez played 35 league games in 2005 - and he only turned 17 in December 2005. By the time he was 18 he'd made around 75 career appearances. For comparison, Rooney had played around 40 games and Fabregas had played around 50 (I think). It's something we wouldn't think about much given it happened in South America but he did play a remarkable number of games at a young age. His build and explosive style of play do have some similarities too.

I think it's hard to seperate out the physical, mental and tactical factors and identify what the real cause is. It's really easy to underestimate just how important confidence is, particularly when you're focusing on things like dribbling. A small, sustained confidence boost can make a huge difference. It is worrying though. Reminds me a bit of Falcao. I was worried what he would do to the composition of the attack and the morale among star players, and we did see some of that with less of the play revolving around van Persie and that 3412 experiment with Rooney, van Persie and Falcao. But in the end that was entirely besides the point because Falcao's physical decline was so dramatic.

 

[svastian99]

Any chance Sanchez move to AM or RW for Martial next season ?

it's easier for us to see something like: Martial - Alexis - Lingard
but Mou will prefer Alexis LW.

 

[el3mel]

Kept dropping deep the whole match, congesting the midfield and depriving us of any presence upfront. If you're going to play as a striker stay upfront. Frustrating and painful to watch.

 

[kundalini]

Sanchez can't spot a crowd of people, without wanting to run straight into them, especially when he had team-mates in space 15 yards away.

 

[Bwuk]

I don’t even know what we can do with Sanchez to get the best out of him.

He doesn’t seem to have the acceleration to play wide and get in behind. As a #9 he drops too deep.

We have to play him at #10 and hope it works.

 

[whatwha]

Great value at £25m a year. Inspired signing.

 

[Minimalist]

Shite team performance but I thought in the first half his quality on the ball was clear as day. Shame he's the only one (maybe Lingard) who looks like that.

 

[Leftback99]

I don’t even know what we can do with Sanchez to get the best out of him.

He doesn’t seem to have the acceleration to play wide and get in behind. As a #9 he drops too deep.

We have to play him at #10 and hope it works.

Agree but we can't play him at 10 because Pogba cant/ doesn't want to play in a 2 man midfield. Something has to give.

 

[Bastian]

Shite team performance but I thought in the first half his quality on the ball was clear as day. Shame he's the only one (maybe Lingard) who looks like that.

Nice to see someone noticing. I saw the same thing, he displayed quality but he is still getting used to a new team and vice versa. Next season I expect him to be very good.

 

[el3mel]

He can't play as a 10 with him losing the ball that much and running into each players.

His best position is on the left but we'll need a right winger that hugs the line and keeps the width on the other flank to not get too narrow.

 

[Bobski]

Great value at £25m a year. Inspired signing.

All that money and impacting the development and future of Martial and Rashford. Genius.

 

[svastian99]

One of the few who seemed to want to win the game.
As in our midfield there was no creativity had to go down a lot, that left us without strikers.

 

[Renegade]

He doesn’t seem to shoot. He seems to have a free role in the team, but clear as day Mourinho signed him with no clue how he would be used. Has he even been tried on the RW yet?

 

[All 3 United]

Martial was playing way better than he is before we signed him. It’s indisputable. Taking his age into consideration and the likelihood of martial now leaving, it’s been a terrible signing.

 

[Gbenger]

Martial was playing way better than he is before we signed him. It’s indisputable. Taking his age into consideration and the likelihood of martial now leaving, it’s been a terrible signing.

What are you playing at saying sensible things like this?

 

[JohnnyKills]

All that money and impacting the development and future of Martial and Rashford. Genius.

Yeah doesn't look great in hindsight does it.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Bit of a weird one. When he was on the ball he showed his quality. However the fact he was going so deep totally neutered us.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Martial was playing way better than he is before we signed him. It’s indisputable. Taking his age into consideration and the likelihood of martial now leaving, it’s been a terrible signing.

This. Needed a right winger, bought someone who disrupted the left

 

[The Real Treble 99]

I like Alexis. Only player on the pitch who gives it all, that’s why I can forgive him for his mistakes. He tries, may not work all the time but the guy tries. Also looks like he actually cares & wants to win.

 

[Amar__]

He tries, may not work all the time but the guy tries.

We didn't sign him because he tries. When Rashford tries and does repeadetly bad things people say he is bad, overrated and shpuld be dropped, but when Sanchez does it for some reason he is not criticised, despite coming as expensive mature player. We signed him as a top class player we expected him to be and he isn't anywhere near that. If he doesn't show great form at start of the next season then this will beanother pointless signing.

 

[Javi]

I don’t even know what we can do with Sanchez to get the best out of him.

He doesn’t seem to have the acceleration to play wide and get in behind. As a #9 he drops too deep.

We have to play him at #10 and hope it works.

Lot's of players on the wing without acceleration, it's not like passing in behind is the only way to set up a winger. Sanchez has world class abilities dribbling the ball, great technqiue and finishing there is little more to ask for a player imo and although his decision-making has its flaws he can be a great asset. Needs a wing-back to hit the flank and a more dominating set-up. I expect him to kick some ass and come good next season either way because form is temporary but class is permanent.

 

[Devil may care]

He ran around a lot but didn't produce much, him and Lingard were no better than Rashford and Martial the other night, they just look busier because of all the dashing about.

 

[Kevin]

Underwhelming.

 

[edgar allan]

Lot's of players on the wing without acceleration, it's not like passing in behind is the only way to set up a winger. Sanchez has world class abilities dribbling the ball, great technqiue and finishing there is little more to ask for a player imo and although his decision-making has its flaws he can be a great asset. Needs a wing-back to hit the flank and a more dominating set-up. I expect him to kick some ass and come good next season either way because form is temporary but class is permanent.[/QUOTE]
Maybe we should have brought Rooney back again.

 

[Jig1234]

Just as frustrating as Mkhitaryan.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Thought he was poor again. Not sure what his role in the team is and, more worryingly, Jose doesn't seem to know either. He's ill disciplined in his positioning and makes us disjointed. He buzzes around a lot which makes him look busy and occasionally fools you into thinking that he had a good game but when you analyse what he actually done your left scratching your head.

Not sure what the future holds for him here at the moment in terms of where he's going to play and how he's going to utilised.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

Martial was playing way better than he is before we signed him. It’s indisputable. Taking his age into consideration and the likelihood of martial now leaving, it’s been a terrible signing.

Yes a complete failing so far on Mou's part which adds doubts if he can work wonders during the summer.

 

[Adisa]

No flair player can look good in this team.

 

[Adisa]

The stat pros on the forum, can someone show the average number of touches he had in the opponents box at Arsenal and now has here?
He drops deep because the ball takes absolute ages to reach the attack. Watch us play, there's an absolute chasm between attack and defence.

 

[promisedlanchiao]

He ran around a lot but didn't produce much, him and Lingard were no better than Rashford and Martial the other night, they just look busier because of all the dashing about.

You have just shown in your post why Mourinho prefers Alexis and Lingard to Martial and Rashford, even if some of us don’t. Their chasing about and heckling of players last night played a big part in getting us a draw instead of a defeat like against brighton last week where Martial and Rashford weren’t working hard enough, especially Tony even if a draw against west ham still isn’t good enough for MUFC.

This is the case as constant work brings interceptions and breaking up many attacks, which makes it less likely for the other team to score. If I’m being honest, I believe that Martial and Rashford are slightly more talented than Alexis and Jesse, but the latter two’s work rate instantly makes them the more efficient, effective and generally more useful pair of players.

Going back to focusing fully on Alexis as this is his thread, I felt that he was our MOTM last night, mainly because of his work rate and willingness to be creative and try to make things happen. He almost scored as well along with that, which is already more than most of our other players did. About the issue of him dropping too deep despite playing as a striker/9.5, that’s more the fault of his teammates not giving Pogba the support in the middle of the park for him to pick out passes, passing on the responsibility to Sanchez instead. This is also partly why Pogba tried a few shots from the halfway line yesterday.

 

[laughtersassassin]

I think Sanchez and Pogba are the perfect examples of how bad we are. Two players who in my mind are world class or very close to it yet cannot show it consistently due to how uninventive we are as a team.


Put either of them in Citys or Barca's of this world and we would be crying out for them.


Honestly think of the number of great players we are signing who don't live up to potential. No one player can make us play well. Our team has got to improve as a whole.