Jose needs to solve puzzle of his left wing

THE left wing has been a headache for Jose Mourinho since he joined United two years ago.

Last season, the manager alternated between Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford until the arrival of Alexis Sanchez and the tactic appeared to be working.

However, since the Chilean arrived from Arsenal in January, he has been favoured on the left wing and Martial and Rashford have had to take it in turns accommodating the 29-year-old by occupying the right wing and occasionally the centre forward role, once Romelu Lukaku has been substituted.

But, Mourinho has shown he is not afraid to drop the club’s highest paid player, which should be motivation for Martial and Rashford to stake a claim for the position. Martial was given his chance against Newcastle and it was through him cutting in from the left that he netted United’s equaliser.

But, it was Sanchez who came on and scored United’s winner and many believe that could be the catalyst to finally kickstart his Reds career.

And while stats, provided by Opta, suggest Mourinho should stick with the Chilean against Chelsea for United’s first game back after the international break, there’s also a strong argument for Martial to be given the nod.

Since Sanchez arrived in January he’s made 18 appearances for United in the league and 16 of them have been starts.

While his goal tally of three could be heavily improved he has created 38 chances in those games, an average of 2.44 a game, the highest of any of the three players being discussed. Despite that, Mourinho could do far worse than finally giving Martial a run of games on the left wing.

Since January, the Frenchman has made 16 appearances in the league, 11 of which were starts, and he’s created 20 chances, an average of 1.79 a game.

A figure which is lower than Sanchez’s average but it is worth noting that while Sanchez has spent the majority of his time playing in his favoured left-wing position, Martial has had to play as a right winger, left winger and a centre forward.

Three of Martial’s four Premier League goals, since January, have come when the 22-year-old started on the left and he showed a small glimpse of what he’s capable of against Newcastle.

If Martial can be that close to Sanchez in terms of chances created, goals and assists playing out of his favoured position and without a run of games to get in to a rhythm and establish a run of good form, then imagine his potential if he’s given a chance.