‘Sanchez not good enough’
ANTONIO CONTE has publicly criticised forward Alexis Sanchez, insisting that the Inter star ‘must be better’.
Sanchez (32) was handed a start for the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg against Juventus on Tuesday night, with regular No9 Romelu Lukaku missing out through suspension.
But the Chilean struggled to fill his former Manchester United team-mate’s boots, squandering chances as his side fell to a 2-1 defeat at San Siro.
His performance continued a worrying trend of being wasteful in front of goal that has festered since his January 2018 move to Old Trafford from Arsenal.
And Conte (51) appears to have had enough. The former Chelsea boss huffed after the game: “I don’t know if he was tired, of course he tried to give his best in the game, but he has to be more clinical when it comes to scoring goals.
“Numbers for [judging] the strikers are merciless, and his numbers must be better.”
And Sanchez’s numbers don’t make for pretty reading.
For all the good of his 15 assists, Sanchez has managed only six goals in 53 appearances since joining the Italian giants.
And it wasn’t any better at United, where he mustered five in 45.
Inter will now have to produce something special in Turin if they are to go through to the show-piece final.
Lautaro Martinez had actually given them the perfect start in the ninth minute, when he notched his 12th goal of the campaign.
But it quickly became the Cristiano Ronaldo show, as the 35-year-old bagged a brace to give his side the advantage.