Sanchez has got to learn how to play our way–United boss

JOSE MOURINHO admitted yesterday that Manchester United are still yet to get the best out of Alexis Sanchez following his highprofile move from Arsenal.

Sanchez arrived at Old Trafford in January as part of a swap deal which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move in the opposite direction.

The Chilean has made eight appearances since but only has one goal to his name – scoring on the rebound after seeing a penalty saved against Huddersfield Town in February.

Criticism of Sanchez’s displays intensified on Monday night following United’s 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace, with claims from some quarters that the 29-year-old produced an erratic and individualistic display.

Sanchez lost possession on 34 separate occasions at Selhurst Park – more times than any of his team-mates – which led Sky Sports pundit and former United fullback Gary Neville to claim the new signing’s role in Mourinho’s side was “not quite working”.

Ahead of Liverpool’s visit to Old Trafford today, the United manager conceded that he was yet to extract the best out of a player who ended last season as the Premier League’s third-highest scorer.

Mourinho is confident, however, that Sanchez’s struggles can be attributed to the timing of his transfer from Arsenal and believes that his new signing will grow into life at Old Trafford.

“What is wrong is that he came at the worst moment of the season, in the winter market,” he said.

“That’s why I don’t like the winter market very much. I think this was a chance that we didn’t want to lose and we made, but we don’t believe a lot in the winter market.

“For sure next season will be better for him. But of course he is learning how to play with us and we are learning how to get the best out of him.”

Mourinho (right) added: “That’s something that we can develop and we’re going to develop with time, with experience and living these experiences together. I don’t consider that a weakness, I consider that a huge potential to be developed.”

The United manager also refuted suggestions that the everindustrious Sanchez was trying too hard to impress.

Even when regularly losing possession, as at Selhurst Park, the Chilean has not shied away from receiving the ball and often drops into deeper positions to receive it. Mourinho believes this can only be a positive.

“That’s great,” he said, when asked whether Sanchez was trying to force the issue.

“Not afraid to take responsibilities, not afraid to try get things to happen. When he feels that he’s not as dangerous as he likes to be, he drops back, he tries things, tries to come to building-up areas.

“When he makes mistakes he tries to compensate immediately the mistakes with fantastic spirit, with a great transition to try and win back the ball. We are very happy.”

Mourinho has insisted that he will send his players out to win at Old Trafford today, following criticism for his conservative approach in the reverse fixture last October.

“We want to win every match and it doesn’t matter the approach, we want to win every match,” he said. “Against Liverpool, I think in these three matches we had one bad result (the 1-1 draw at home in January of last year) and two good results. That’s my feeling.”

Klopp’s side are the ones receiving the plaudits this season for their entertaining and attacking style of football and the Liverpool boss believes Mourinho’s brand of football simply “doesn’t work” if he is unable to bring major honours to Old Trafford.

Klopp was generally politically savvy with his thoughts on the football served up by United.

That diplomatic veneer was punctuated, though, when the German was asked if there is a responsibility to entertain if a manager has the capacity to buy the best players in the world.

Klopp said: “Playing very defensive and not being successful just doesn’t work.

“We know the pressure here is to win – win the next game and then the next stage to win a cup.

“We have to convince the people first with our style of football.” (© Independent News Service )