Alexis Sanchéz has been the biggest signing of the January window so far. The clubs opted for a player trade where Manchester traded in Mkhitaryan for Sanchéz.
Considering that this is a player trade for players who play/have played in similar positions means that the managers think this is beneficial deal for both teams. Arsenal get rid of a player who could leave on a free after 6 months and in turn get a talented player, albeit inconsistent at his spell at United, whereas United get arguably Arsenal‘s best player in return.
Last season Mkhi was either played as a right winger or an attacking midfielder for United. He also had a few games on either wing. This season he has mainly played as an attacking midfielder with only a few games on either wing.
PHOTO: Taken from DailyStar, link: https://cdn.images.dailystar.co.uk/dynamic/58/photos/865000/620x/Alexis-Sanchez-677368.jpg
Sanchéz has played across the front 3 all his career. At Udinese he was primarily a right winger or a striker, at Barca he was mostly played at the right wing but also had a few games on the left. At Arsenal he‘s been focusing on the left wing position where he seems to play the best, but is also sometimes played at centre forward.
So now the question is: Where is José gonna play him?
The striker position is usually occupied by Lukaku, Rashford or Zlatan when healthy. On the left wing Martial or Rashford are the usual suspects with both rarely getting injured. On the right wing it is usually Mata or Lingard, but with Lingard being so succesful playing as an attacking mid this season, Mata has usually been playing there with average performances. As things are looking right now, Sanchéz‘s likely position will be right wing, but Sanchéz is usually allowed a lot of freedom when he played for Barca under Pep or Arsenal under Wenger. In my opinion he will probably replace Mata in the starting line-up on the right wing, but will be allowed freedom to do as he pleases in the final third.
When asked on where Sanchéz would play, Mourinho replied: „“Everywhere in the attacking positions,” the manager replied. “I know him for many, many years. I was with him in Italy - when he was at Udinese, I was at Inter. I was with him in Spain - when I was at Real, he was at Barcelona. I was with him in England - when I was at Chelsea and Manchester United, he was at Arsenal.“ He goes on to add „“I saw him play in different tactical systems, I saw him play with different philosophies of different managers, I saw him being successful in every country with every manager with every system in every position.“
His final comment on the matter is the one I find most interesting and telling. “Now we have five attacking players of high quality – [Juan] Mata, [Marcus] Rashford, [Romelu] Lukaku, [Anthony] Martial and Alexis," said Jose. "It's fantastic for me and the team. If the players are on the bench one day and they don't like it, I'm happy with that.” - http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2018/Jan/Jose-Mourinho-discusses-where-Alexis-Sanchez-will-play-in-his-Manchester-United-team.aspx
Last Friday United played Yeovil Town in the FA Cup where Sanchéz made his debut. Sanchéz was played on the left wing, but had freedom to cut inside and play more centrally where Mata often moved to the left wing to cover for Sanchéz. A lot of United‘s attacking play went down the left wing in that match, maybe a sign of what‘s to come? Sanchéz had a very decent game, he bagged an assist and got substitued on the 72nd minute for Lingard.
It is hard to tell if he will be playing on the left wing for the league matches since there were a lot of players rested during that match, but time will tell. On Wednesday United will be taking on Spurs in the league it will be interesting seeing where Sanchéz will be played, my opinion is that he will start on the right wing since Martial will be occupying the right wing.
Post by: Hákon Þráinsson
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