Alexis Sanchez is not a snake: Why he's not to blame for United failure and who the real culprit was
6 minutes and 9 seconds is what it took Alexis Sanchez to deliver his take on why he flopped at Man United.
A simple reaction would be to denounce the Chilean for the damage to the holy name of Manchester United. Here it is:
But I want to justify Alexis Sanchez a bit. Not because I liked him as our player, but on a human level. His story is another testament to why money alone cannot drown one's miseries.
For starters, consider the following:
- Sanchez's incredible honesty. This is not typical of a modern footballer.
- Alexis doesn't pick anyone out for blame; he laments the whole situation.
- His final words are 'thank you', not 'fuck you'.
- What he needs a context -- and that's what I'll provide next.
January 2018 was an odd time for Man United. On the surface, there was much promise: the team is second in the league, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial are having the time of their lives, United get drawn against a mere Sevilla in the Champions League Round of 16.
Yet, United were barely grinding results out. The Manchester derby ended in a 2-1 defeat but the scoreline flattered United. Flattered, because De Gea is having a god-tier season, saving United up to 19 points and it's never a good idea for a top club to rely on a goalkeeper. And then, there's the Pogba-Mourinho mess.
In other words, Man United were cracking apart and not even De Gea could save it.
And then, this happens: 22 January 2018 Alexis Sanchez joins Man United; 25 January 2018 Jose Mourinho extends his deal by one more year to stay until 2020.
The roof is about to collapse and the tinkerman Ed Woodward commits to extending the housekeeper's agreement. He also finds it a smart idea to bring in a player on mouth-watering wages for a fully stacked position. What's more, for all his glamour, Sanchez hadn't even had a good season!
And the funny thing is Mourinho (Woodward's chosen man) didn't even want Sanchez (another Woodward's chosen man). Mourinho had wanted Ivan Perisic. How can you be committed to your head coach but give him the tools he didn't ask for?
'Lonely, bored, ignored – why Alexis Sánchez wants to leave Manchester United' was the article in The Times on 9 November 2018. Paul Hirst detailed that Mourinho never knew how to get the best out of the Chilean whose form was labelled 'average' within the club. The player himself was disenchanted with the manager whose primary tactic was sitting back and absorbing the pressure.
Sanchez was bought into this atmosphere: a manager losing the dressing room but somehow getting a new contract (in January!); players who were having a communication breakdown with their manager; tactics that never suited Sanchez.
Sometimes it worked – best evidenced by United's 3-1 win at the Emirates with De Gea making some 14 silly saves – sometimes it didn't.
As a footballer, Alexis should share the blame. He could've done better to adapt and yet he seemed more interested in spending time with Atom and Humber. But why was it so, in the first place?
Alexis is said to be a shy person. Bring him to Man United and now you have a lonely player on huge money whose strengths do not suit the system. I'll put it another way: a human being is put into unfavourable conditions for work. And who thought it was a good idea?
You're right -- Ed Woodward.
When you make one mistake, it's unfortunate. But when you keep screwing up, it's a pattern. Ed Woodward has a pattern that's as huge as Alexis's wages.
The Chilean was just one among Ed Woodward's failures, although arguably his biggest cock-up as the club's CEO.
I actually have more reasons to sympathise with Alexis Sanchez than Ed Woodward. The Chilean defended his coach by calling out the Sun:
He also prioritised his career and moved to Inter Milan with a pay cut instead of milking United dry. He left on an honest, albeit sad, note.
United fans, at least thank Sanchez for the honesty. We don't enjoy it often these days.
Comments
since we are supposedly talking as human beings ...... if sanchez was so unhappy he could have terminated his contract at any time .....but he didn't....instead he accepted his 560k a week and gave nothing in return......was Woodward stupid to buy him .....yes .......was Mourinho at fault .....yes big time .....but he owed the fans ....to have a professional attitude while he was accepting his ridiculous salary .... when he left ....his interviews contained many digs at United.....so he has not been the Saint depicted here .....and I do not find his interview ....enlightening or honest ......it was a self serving justification for his failures ,particularly in character.
Truefanfor life , well, he did try, you can't fault him for that. Recalls the FA Cup semi performance against Spurs or his shift against Man City in the 3-2 derby. He saved us (and Mourinho's job for a few months) with vital goals at Newcastle and Bournemouth. As for the money, come on I don't buy this argument. Imagine you're doing a bad job and you're not to happy where you are but you're earning SHITLOADS! I mean SHITLOADS. And you're coming from a poor background (just imagine). Do you renounce?
hes not getting paid 560k a week now......and hes just walked away with 9 million from us ....I think we the fans ...and the club ....and his team mates have the right to expect a lot more from him ... hes still sitting on the bench a lot .....and instead now his legacy is as a money grabber.....gold digger ...not as a very talented professional footballer and to answer your question yes I would walk away ...and did .....not as much as he was walking away from but enough ! and he would not have been unemployed for long ...some team would have taken a chance on him so he had nothing to lose .. except money.
Truefanfor life , I understand your point and it's good you walked away in your situation. My main point though is if you want to blame anyone for all that, it's Ed Woodward. He gave Sanchez that money while ignoring the squad harmony and the idea to strengthen more problematic positions. Sanchez just flopped. It happens. He happened to be on crazy money which is what causes the outrage. But the architect of it all was not Sanchez.
who wrote this his bank manager.
I understand the points you're making here and they are valid. We're living in a time where the media makes mountains out of molehills when it comes to nearly everything. However, when it comes to Sanchez, I'm still on the fence. Yes, he's spoken well of us and didn't go full Di Maria but could you imagine if he did? The whole world would burn if he said anything remotely negative and I think his PR team is to thank for that :) He came to a big team that was sucking majorly at the time on astronomical wages and he didn't expect pressure? He didn't think every time he made a mistake, he would be scrutinized for it? You can't have your cake and eat it too. And then after warming the benches for the whole time, when you come and say things like 'I wanted to return to Arsenal after my very first training session', it doesn't paint a good picture in my mind. That said, I do admit that he's not the ONLY one to be blamed - Woodward and Mourinho have a role to play as well.
I personally blame Mourinho most. United as a club has never been in a meltdown like it was in the final Mourinho year. While he wanted other players he played a key role in pulling one over Pep by getting Sanchez. Woodward and Glazers with all the criticism have spent over the years. We are probably the biggest spenders in the last 5 years. Mostly wrong buys. He's pretty clueless about football though. Would prefer EVDS like person as Director.
Meghna Sengupta, I do believe Sanchez should've done better and we only saw glimpses (3-2 vs City, FA Cup semi vs Spurs, B'mouth and Newcastle goals) but he was a bad fit from the start and the blame for that, *for not recognising the badness of the move*, is with Woodward.
Red@heart, The thought of having him as DoF is enough to make any United fan happy 💪🏼 Mourinho comes with his own set of problems imo. He's not a long-term manager and I think he's stuck in the ways of his past and the world has changed so much since he last won CL. He was a bad fit just like Sanchez and since it's United, the pressure from.the fans was very intense as well. But yeah, spending millions to sign players and then selling them for less than half is not very smart and it has affected our club quite a bit
Eugene Vasilev, And for paying him the GDP of a small economy and continuing to do so even when it was obvious that there was a problem
Eugene Vasilev, yes its very normal to blame Woodward and the glazers for everything on this app ..... its a continuous mind bending buzz ......I don't like Woodward....I don't like the glazers ....but you cannot doubt the amount they have spent on players over the years ...and I never wanted Mourinho in the club.......BUT the fact is Sanchez chose to join United .....Sanchez was happy to accept 560k a week .....and yet Sanchez ....on the pitch and obviously in the dressing room .....did not keep HIS side of the deal ....He did NOT produce.....and he did not try....
Truefanfor life , it's one thing to pump money in; it's another thing to pump them in recklessly. Now we're stuck with the likes of Lingard, Jones, Pereira. We aren't selling them because no one will take them on their wages. Some of our just decent players earn more than top players at City and Liverpool. Sanchez was just part of the silly trend.
yes but thats a totally different story .....the story here is Sanchez .....and he should accept responsibility for his lack of effort ,lack of professionalism ,but instead he tries to justify himself for his failures .
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Meghna Mourinho and Woodward individually were bad news for United. Together it was just a ticking time bomb. And throw Sanchez in the mix, who downed his tools at Arsenal for a big money move, only to be welcomed into hell. One could write a whole chapter on this.
Again, very well written. The combination of Woodward and Mourinho did some serious damage to the club, the morale of the players and fans. Playing style was dire. Could put an insomniac to sleep. Good players were being deliberately belittled, publicly berated. People look at Europa results and 2nd PL position but what happened thereafter was diabolical and caustic. Unfortunately Sanchez joined at the worst possible time at a ridiculous salary. I am not as sympathetic to Di Maria though. Hats off to Ole, for not only repairing the damage but bringing the transformation. I wait and watch Spurs, in anticipation....
Red@heart, thanks mate! I really like Jose but he contributed to his own demise. The Sevilla games broke it completely even though the signs had been there for a short time. Although the main man for me is always Ed.
Eugene, Jose is always the same. It's always about him, first. I think, he's getting more desperate with passing time. Not his biggest fan. And agree about Ed. He's a complete tosser. Someone like Edwin VDS would be great.