Editorila Alexis Sanchez.

Alexis Sanchez: A Finished Star Or A work In Progress

Alexis Sanchez’s Manchester united Career has now come to an end as the Chilean has joined Inter Milan on a 3-year-deal.

One could say that you cannot exactly predict how football or players may turn out to be, so might as well, just enjoy every bit of the player you get to see. The Chilean forward, Alexis Sanchez, came into limelight from Barcelona and was a huge prospect to the recent evolving of football and it’s style.

He was a young and extra-ordinary talent who was also in the right team that had many handful of talent. So it was best he moved to where he could gain more competition and show forth his talent. Well, he didn’t disappoint at all as he joined Arsenal Football Club and became a threat and a sensation to watch as well.

Sanchez quickly had a paired partnership with Mesut Ozil, the German Midfielder and was a formidable team for Wenger at the time. The player, in his prime, became a prime target for The Red Devils, Manchester United, and a transfer was made and he landed in the theater of dreams, of which we expected a super and better performance than we saw at Arsenal.

He was tipped to succeed excellently well at the Old Trafford, after having such an impressive time and seasons at Arsenal. But to what we could call a dismay or disappointment of everyone, it became more of a struggle to see Sanchez at an average performance, not even at his best.

There was indeed pressure from fans, teammates, as well as coaches, but still, it was quite a struggle for the former Arsenal man to live up to the expectation he had built all the way from Barcelona.

Sports pundit aired their views as regards the Chilean’s performance at United, Adam Baite was definitely not an exception, as he said: “I thought he would be a forward who would play all across the line, who scored goals and was tenacious, but he has been an absolute disaster. I have no idea what’s happened to Alexis Sanchez. There must be two of them. The one that we saw playing for Barcelona and Arsenal for years and the one that turned up in Manchester. I have no idea what it is.”

Several others spoke about Alexis Sanchez’s United performance in the club. His contract deal at the club, saw him earning the most among other players but he wasn’t adding as much value as he was paid, which raised eye brows of fans and the media, and his abilities and skills in the game were being questioned as well. Gary Neville had summed up the feelings of many fans and supporters in his assessment of Alexis Sanchez’s time at Manchester United. Apparently, the best-paid player in the Premier League, departs to the Italian league, having scored only three goals in the competition since his transfer in January of 2018, which you must say, is a shock for a player with so much prospect and talent as Sanchez. Supporters had long accepted that this was a move doomed to fail but there is still confusion as to why it happened the way it did.

At about Eight months before Alexis joined Manchester united, he was named the player of the Year at Arsenal, but on joined United, he showed an absolute display of struggle from the set go. Possible excuses came out, such as a burn-out, change of team and trying to settle into the new team, but after his first summer off in years, his top form deserted him completely. It still remains a mystery as to how one of the most exciting players in the English Premier League, become its biggest bust.

There might be some specific angles to look at, as regards Alexis Sanchez’s loss of form. At the time, he had relationship problems and also developed tax issues in Spain which he needed to clear out or otherwise risk a jail term as we have seen with Cristaino Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in Spain. However, Alexis Sanchez role in the United team was almost never clearly understood by both the player and we the fans, there were glaring evidence on the pitch.

He is indeed a versatile player and started of from the right-wing, when he started his European Journey at Udinese, before joining Barcelona and was also frequently played from that position. After he joined Arsenal, he switched to play from the opposite wing, the left wing. He also showed his versatility by playing as a 10 at times, thriving on the counter attack and also operating as a striker, to a great effect in London.

But a regular display of Sanchez we saw at both Barcelona and Arsenal, was that wherever the Chilean played, he was more of a goal scorer than a creator of goals. He was given the liberty to play same style he played at Arsenal, at United but in his defense, there was little or no chemistry among the players.

Back at Arsenal, Sanchez often had Olivier Giroud ahead of him with Mesut Ozil as the playmaker. He could not have hoped for two more selfless team-mates. But at United, only Juan Mata fitted that bill. Romelu Lukaku was the striker with Sanchez expected to add the creativity despite being someone who relies on it from others.

While playing the Striking role at Arsenal, Sanchez rallied up his most of his 22 Premier League goals at his final season at Arsenal. The extraordinary dip in shot volume since then is surely the simplest explanation for Sanchez’s lack of goals. It’s not that the shots stopped going in. The shots just stopped coming from the player.

Alexis Sanchez Predecessor, Robin Van Persie, who made the similar move from Arsenal to Manchester United, said: “He was coming into a defensive playing team,” as Jose Mourinho’s concerns over the team’s defense meant that there was rarely an overlapping full-back able to buy space for Sanchez and there wasn’t the same freedom either.

While Sanchez could be careless in possession, this was never the real issue. Just like many other top players, Sanchez had always been afforded this responsibility at Arsenal too. He had the freedom to try things because he was the man to make things happen. Some of the most productive players give the ball away. Unfortunately, he was no longer so productive.

His former Coach at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, said: “I believe he has lost confidence,” ”The strength of Alexis Sanchez is to show initiative, to dribble, to take people on. These players are the most vulnerable when they have no confidence any more because their game is based on feeling free to take the initiative. He had a high level of physical energy and he has lost that as well.”

Alexis Sanchez went on a loan to Inter Milan this season and it has been a reinvention of his self, he also had Lukaku to pair with in the team. as well Lozanno, Victor Moses, Candreva, among others. Sanchez is gradually seeing his form come back and probably, he might live up to the top expectations everyone wanted at Manchester United.

In what used to be a loan deal, has now become a permanent deal for the Chilean to continue to find the right path for his Career at Inter Milan from Manchester United.