How do you explain Alexis Sanchez?

[simplyared]

Think it correct to say most utd fans were in exultation when, in Jan 2018, the signing of Sanchez was confirmed. The vital piece in the jigsaw which was to take us to another level and challenge with the big guns. Apart from the wage issue this was surely a sure thing – a no brainer. We got our man! The aquisition of RVP still in our memories added undoubtedly to our excitment and expectations.

Looking back I still cannot get my head round such a collapse. I just cannot believe it hasn’t worked out. I mean the player was quality. Obviously up there with the other divas but always put a shift in for Arsenal. He carried them ffs over a period! So there were no comittment issues either.

So he’s the wrong side of 30 now and rumour has it he’s on his way to Italy.

My question to other caf-members is expressed in the op-title.

My other question is: Should we not keep him for another season, turn the page and hopefully get a tune out of him and start seeing the player he was?

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Dog bothering wasteman.

 

[AgentP]

I expected a lot from him. But it's clear his level has dropped. Keeping him another season is a huge risk and we should get rid when we have the chance. Some clubs are still interested in him now but if he has another year like this one, no one will come near him till the end of his contract.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Think it correct to say most utd fans were in exultation when, in Jan 2018, the signing of Sanchez was confirmed. The vital piece in the jigsaw which was to take us to another level and challenge with the big guns. Apart from the wage issue this was surely a sure thing – a no brainer. We got our man! The aquisition of RVP still in our memories added undoubtedly to our excitment and expectations.

Looking back I still cannot get my head round such a collapse. I just cannot believe it hasn’t worked out. I mean the player was quality. Obviously up there with the other divas but always put a shift in for Arsenal. He carried them ffs over a period! So there were no comittment issues either.

So he’s the wrong side of 30 now and rumour has it he’s on his way to Italy.

My question to other caf-members is expressed in the op-title.

My other question is: Should we not keep him for another season, turn the page and hopefully get a tune out of him and start seeing the player he was?

We signed him after an absolutely woeful season for Arsenal. At the time we convinced ourself that this was because he couldn't be arsed playing for that shower of useless twats any more and he would find his mojo at United again. With hindsight, it now looks as though his current state of decline was well underway before we signed him.

Or he quickly realised that his new team was also a shower of useless twats...

 

[Di Maria's angel]

A mix of both - he's obviously declined and we've never really played in a way that brings out the best in any of the attackers.

 

[charlenefan]

He wasn't great during the first half of last season with Arsenal, a bit like Torres when he moved in January to Chelsea and everyone thought it was just the move that saw his form fall off of a cliff (the signs were there already)

I genuinely feel injuries have contributed massively this season to that continued downhill spiral though because don't forget despite how poor his first few months were last season he still put in excellent performances away to City and in the FA Cup SF against Spurs

He's done now though, through no fault of his own he's just lost 'it'

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Too many injuries in a short few seasons as well.

 

[Coxy]

He wasn't great during the first half of last season with Arsenal, a bit like Torres when he moved in January to Chelsea and everyone thought it was just the move that saw his form fall off of a cliff (the signs were there already)

I genuinely feel injuries have contributed massively this season to that continued downhill spiral though because don't forget despite how poor his first few months were last season he still put in excellent performances away to City and in the FA Cup SF against Spurs

He's done now though, through no fault of his own he's just lost 'it'

This.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

A mix of both - he's obviously declined and we've never really played in a way that brings out the best in any of the attackers.

Yup.
The latter is much more inportant than people think. Attacker after attacker seems to drop a level here so there has to be more to it.
I still believe Sanchez would’ve been superb for City.

 

[Ole90+3]

Player failing to adapt to his decreasing abilities particularly the explosiveness he had - resulting in a downward spiral of confidence.

 

[harms]

We signed him after an absolutely woeful season for Arsenal.

8 goals and 3 assists in 20 games is not a woeful season. He scored or assisted every 145 minutes.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but his level wasn't close to what we've seen of him at United. More so, there were clear issues with his motivation in his last Arsenal season and the drop of form was understandable.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

8 goals and 3 assists in 20 games is not a woeful season. He scored or assisted every 145 minutes.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but his level wasn't close to what we've seen of him at United. More so, there were clear issues with his motivation in his last Arsenal season and the drop of form was understandable.

He was pretty crap for most of that season. Those stats don't change my opinion. Certainly an obvious deterioration from the season before.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Similar to Rooney really. Relied too much on his acceleration/explosiveness to get away from markers.

People that take too much time on the ball rely on being able to hold onto it, Sanchez can't do it anymore.

His legs have lost that extra 10% he used to have, unless he's played as a striker where his movement is still quite good, he'll never be at the top level as a winger.

 

[Lennon7]

He'll probably come good again, but it's not worth the risk. The amount of money that fella is on is unholy

 

[JPRouve]

I can't really explain it but I imagine that it involves multiple factors, from fitness, psychological and technical management and United/Arsenal not being the greatest environment if you want to perform at a high level. And he obviously could be a big part of the problem himself, attitude, personal motivation and lifestyle.

 

[Bwuk]

Player failing to adapt to his decreasing abilities particularly the explosiveness he had - resulting in a downward spiral of confidence.

This.

People under estimate confidence.

It’s just never worked out for him. Hope for his sake he moves and is able to regain some sort of form.

 

[TRUERED89]

My other question is: Should we not keep him for another season, turn the page and hopefully get a tune out of him and start seeing the player he was?

He could find his form but its a bit risky trying to find out, particularly with his wages. He might flourish somewhere else i.e. Diego Forlan, But Sanchez is 30+ so less likely. If he can be released and replaced its a no-brainer, BYE BYE.

 

[charlenefan]

Yup.
The latter is much more inportant than people think. Attacker after attacker seems to drop a level here so there has to be more to it.
I still believe Sanchez would’ve been superb for City.

Nah I dont, he'd of played as that false 9 for City in place of Aguero and that would have been to the detriment of City. I'm sure Pep would have had him sat on the bench like we have

 

[Adam-Utd]

People forget that most his recent good form for Arsenal came from him being a striker.

We signed him and stuck him on the wing and suddenly realised his top end speed is rubbish and he can't take on a man.

 

[RedorDead21]

Some huge players are leaving Old Trafford having such terrible experiences. Barely lasting a season. Certainly suggests we need to do more work on personality profiling before signing players.

 

[Sky1981]

Dressing room politics.

His teammates never fully supported him.

 

[2cents]

We’ve seen this kind of drop-off before with some players - Torres, Shevchenko, Kaka, Rooney to a certain extent (although his decline was less abrupt). Not sure what explains it beyond injury-related burnout. But there’s no coming back from it.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

We’ve seen this kind of drop-off before with some players - Torres, Shevchenko, Kaka, Rooney to a certain extent (although his decline was less abrupt). Not sure what explains it beyond injury-related burnout. But there’s no coming back from it.

Van Persie too.

Seems kind of unfair that we've had so many at United!

 

[Moonwalker]

He was definitely in decline before we signed him, and he was signed on reputation rather than form. We all believed he could reverse it for one last hurrah, but that was never gonna happen under a manager whose defensive mindset is nowhere more pronounced than in his choice of wingers.

 

[flappyjay]

His form was raised as a concern prior to his signing. It was dismissed as being caused by the fact he wanted away and "his teammates didn't want to pass to him " excuse

 

[2cents]

Van Persie too.

Seems kind of unfair that we've had so many at United!

Yup. Going back a bit you could say the same of Yorke too. Luckily Teddy pulled a reverse burnout and had his best season at 34/35.

 

[royboy16]

I would have liked to have seen him up front through the middle rather than outwide. I think he did have a few opportunities up top spearheading our attack but not enough.

 

[simplyared]

Van Persie too.

Seems kind of unfair that we've had so many at United!

If there was ever talk about a player performing for his manager, then RVP - SAF is an example of this. He couldn't be arsed when SAF left and was replaced by Moyes.

 

[Bubz27]

Even for people saying he'd fallen off a cliff in the first half of the season we signed him, he scored 30 the season before. His best ever goal return, if I recall correctly.

What a crazy drop off. His best ever season to his worst.

 

[LiamB]

He came into a team of utter garbage its not like its just him who has been bad its every striker in the team.

 

[RedTechsture]

Feel bad for the guy,
No one, not even himself could have predicted his levels falling off the cliff the way he has.
Due to the extreme finances involved (which is the boards fault) he is now seen as the stigma of all of our issues, and maybe the scapegoat as such.
Our issues are coming close to being a decade old or more. Bad defence, bad purchases and basic recruitment issues, poor talent scouting, neglect of vital positions, reliance on players that wouldnt get in mid-low table sides, board who have collectively not one ounce of football brain between them (and refer to their own club as "a lovely franchise"), aged stadium etc etc etc.

Bad shit happens. It cant be explained. Human body and mind is a fickle thing. As I say, the bad thing for Sanchez is the "perfect storm" of parameters he has stacked against him (The finances involved, the specific LEVEL of drop in his abilities in such a short period, the performances of the rest of his team mates, the current state of the club, manager who openly didnt know his best first 11 or his best formation) that makes him look to be the pariah of the club.

Agreed he has been an awful signing, but I dont think all blame is apportionable to him

 

[Sanchez7]

Lost that extra bit of pace/acceleration that makes all the difference at this level. I still believe that in a functional system he will still get 15+ goals/season. A very poor signing given the numbers involved.

 

[Mal donaghy]

Fat ,lazy ,overpaid, do you need anymore??

 

[RE1999]

I always thought it was because he came into the squad in January (always difficult), was used to playing a different way and then lost all his confidence.

Since then, he's never really been fit. He's played some games, done badly so not got any confidence back, the fans/media have got on his back and then he's got injured again.

Honestly, I like the man and don't think he is 'too old' but a fresh start and a decent pre season at a new club seems what is best for both United and the player.

 

[Red00012]

Explained as the worst signing we have ever made.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

Think it correct to say most utd fans were in exultation when, in Jan 2018, the signing of Sanchez was confirmed. The vital piece in the jigsaw which was to take us to another level and challenge with the big guns. Apart from the wage issue this was surely a sure thing – a no brainer. We got our man! The aquisition of RVP still in our memories added undoubtedly to our excitment and expectations.

Looking back I still cannot get my head round such a collapse. I just cannot believe it hasn’t worked out. I mean the player was quality. Obviously up there with the other divas but always put a shift in for Arsenal. He carried them ffs over a period! So there were no comittment issues either.

So he’s the wrong side of 30 now and rumour has it he’s on his way to Italy.

My question to other caf-members is expressed in the op-title.

My other question is: Should we not keep him for another season, turn the page and hopefully get a tune out of him and start seeing the player he was?

This question is exactly why we need to get rid....do it whilst there is still some hope from teams that they can get him firing. One bad season is forgivable from a risk investment point of view, two would look stupid.

Also, we should look towards the long term. You don't want to plan your future attack with a player who doesn't have long in him.

 

[Wade3]

Wasn’t he already on decline while he was still with Arsenal? That trend was widely ignored and attributed to other reasons. We should’ve never offered him such a massive contract, if not because his performances simply didn’t warrant it, simply because it blew demands from other players into the sky.

That aside, we were doing well without him. It seemed to disrupt our team on the pitch and caused rifts between the manager and players that probably wouldn’t have developed to that degree.

 

[hobbers]

He played so much football the two years prior to joining us it clearly burned him up. Just one of those with a playing style that his body cant sustain into his thirties.

Now he has recurring injuries in practically every muscle group. He’s basically michael owen’d.

He came to us for the money, but i dont doubt his desire to be our top player who leads us to trophies. His body will never allow that though. And in the brief moments of relative fitness hes so eager to make up for it he just overplays every touch and his confidence has hit rock bottom.

Tldr hes totally finished at this level.

 

[crossy1686]

What's 5'5 and shit?

Alexis Sanchez.

 

[cyril C]

It has nothing to do with injury nor age. IMO it is more to do with his playing style that contradict with ours. Arsenal plays a lot of short pass, requiring players running into space; Sanchez was their focal point so he and Ozil were the key channel in attack. Worst part of all, is that Sanchez LIKES to play on the left, fighting with Pogba in the same space, as well as Rashford. If you recall last season that whenever Sanchez had the ball, he simply held onto it too long, while the rest of the Utd squad were watching him.

I thought (as well as hope) Mourinho would have sort this out during the summer break, but I was wrong.