Since being captured by the Red Devils, nicknamed “The Squirrel”, the lucky acorn of Sanchez has led him astray and his performance is in doubt. However, as it turns out during the game against Newcastle Utd this week-end, Sanchez entered the pitch at the 67th minute and broke the silence by scoring a saintlike winning goal at the 90th minute and which has probably given Mourinho another day to live to save his job. But will this comeback be boosting up Sanchez’s confidence and spell back his magic on the pitch?
Sanchez is familiar to induce the opponent players around him as he is sharp and technical but as a forward, he has rarely added his name to the scoreline since joining Manchester United in January 2018. His struggle, as a star premier league player, has made it clear and can be beyond his reach to improve if he does not put his feet at the right place.
Under Mourinho, unlike at Arsenal, passing games is not the tactic used for a key to victory which Sanchez was familiar to and gained confidence from. He was free to do anything at Arsenal under Wenger. His confidence has been doubtful when he integrated Mourinho’s attacking program and with Lukaku reaching his peak and ahead of him, he will have to bring out his best in himself and find progress in altering his strategy and style of play to fit in the team alongside Lukaku, Rashford and Martial. Maybe finding the one-twos football he possessed back in the days under the Arsenal’s shirt can be favourable to him instead of charging ahead irrationally to lose possession of the ball. Maybe, he is also trying too hard. Sanchez’s performance last season out of 10 has been reduced to less than half compared to when he was at Arsenal, as per The Dailymail’s statistics below:
This clearly proves the struggle he is actually facing at Manchester where the averaging shots on target has been reduced to 2.21 and the chances created per game to 1.53. It is shocking in terms of assists whereby none was made last season. However, a drastic increase in his statistics has been for the possession lost which has been criticised resulting from his unproductive dribbles. Several sources have backed up stats to prove Sanchez’s struggles and especially for possession lost since he has been transferred.
Adaptation to a new environment and the game tactics of a new team may take time. Sanchez is a great player with class, but, yet to overcome his struggle at Manchester. Has he been taking time to adapt to his new team or is Mourinho not using him accordingly? He was transferred, as being among the great forward in the premier league, at that time with a salary of more than £350,000 per week and became among the highest paid player in the premier league. He has dreamed to become a United player and there is lot to be expected from him and Mourinho must ensure that he is in his best condition this season.
Another great signing in the squad that have struggled at United and to Mourinho’s formation, is namely Paul Pogba. The test is on Mourinho to seek for a redress in getting those superstar players to their best conditions, but he is failing to do so and has acquired all the ingredients to reach the nerves of the supporters who want him sacked