Alexis Sanchez is struggling to settle in at Manchester United, with his display against Crystal Palace on Monday night the latest in a collection of underwhelming performances since his January move from Arsenal.
Such difficulties can always happen with winter signings. Regardless of Sanchez’s Premier League experience, it takes time to settle into a new system, get used to new teammates, and establish an understanding with a new manager.
Yet there’s no doubt that the Chilean’s form is becoming a cause for concern. On Monday, he had only three touches in the Palace box, as he constantly dropped deep in an attempt to influence the game – a habit that is a cause for his struggles, and United’s.
Club legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said it best after Monday’s game: “Alexis was poor tonight, there’s no doubt about that. He was trying to play one-twos from 40 yards from goal. He is no good from there.
“For me, I see Alexis Sanchez as being at his best in the left channel, attacking defenders, committing them, playing one-two combination. He has to try and get in those positions for Manchester United.”
As Neville points out, Sanchez’s most effective position is indeed on the left wing, but that is a position where Marcus Rashford and especially Anthony Martial thrive – United visibly improved against Palace once Rashford was brought on at halftime to play on that flank.
Neither one is as good as Sanchez in the position, but their effectiveness – and again, especially Martial’s – drops when they’re played on the right to accommodate the new recruit, whereas Sanchez is still a capable player on the right or even through the middle.
But while Jose Mourinho sorts out this positional headache, Sanchez has taken it upon himself to try to prove himself – thus leading to his propensity to drop deep as he tries to maximise his influence.
It hasn’t worked. Sanchez has two assists and one goal in eight United appearances across all competitions.
His key passes metric has dropped from three per 90 minutes in the league for Arsenal to 1.4 for his new team. Most tellingly, he is losing the ball far too often: 34 times on Monday, and 36 times in two separate recent fixtures, against Newcastle and Huddersfield. No other United player has lost possession so many times in a single game this season.
His dropping deep also reduces the impact Paul Pogba is able to have, as Sanchez ends up demanding the ball in positions Pogba would normally take up. Working out the kinks in the on-field relationship between those two is another challenge on Mourinho’s hands.
I'm going to defend Sanchez, Some of our fans expected him to hit the ground running, Don't jump on his back too quick, He only joined us under 2 months ago, Give him time
— Matthew (@Carrick4united) March 6, 2018
Sanchez’s versatility affords Mourinho plenty of options. He can push Sanchez further forward, as a nominal No10 but playing just off central striker Romelu Lukaku (and dropping deep as little as possible).
Keep him on the right flank and trust Martial and Rashford to maintain their standards on the left. Play him on the left and pick Juan Mata over Martial and Rashford on the right – the Spaniard is United’s best player on that flank, and his introduction on Monday was another key factor in the Red Devils’ comeback.
Mourinho could even try Sanchez as a central striker to give Lukaku some rest – some of Sanchez’s best displays for Arsenal came playing effectively as a false 9.
With Saturday’s north-west derby against Liverpool and next week’s crucial Champions League second-leg fixture against Sevilla coming up, the manager needs to quickly figure out how to get the best from his new signing.
*Quotes and lost possession stats taken from Sky Sports. All other stats taken from whoscored.com.
