Barring any last-minute problems with his medical, Alexis Sánchez will don his Manchester United training gear tomorrow and run out on to the lush grass at Carrington with his new team-mates for the first time.
Fresh from a brief break with his family in London, José Mourinho will be back at the AON Training Complex too, trying to work out how to fit his new signing into his team.
Mourinho will already have a plan in mind, of course, but it should not involve the idea of playing Sánchez down the left. There must be a temptation on the Portuguese’s part to start Sánchez on the left-hand side of the second line of United’s attack. After all, the Chilean has enjoyed some of his best games for Arsenal playing in that position, whether as part of a 4-2-3-1 formation or in the 3-4-2-1 system that Arsène Wenger has used this season. Placing Sánchez there makes sense in some ways given that Mourinho likes to play with inverted wingers. Of the 80 goals he scored for Arsenal, 67 were with his right foot and he struck only four with his left — one of which was a deflection against Hull City when he was trying to jump out of the way of Alex Iwobi’s shot.
Cutting in from the left and finishing with his right foot from a centre-left position is the classic Sánchez goal, but United already have two players who are outstanding at doing that. Marcus Rashford is one of them, and Anthony Martial is the other. Placing Sánchez above them in the pecking order would be a wasteful thing for Mourinho to do.
Martial, in particular, is in irresistible form in that position. The Frenchman made it three goals in his past three starts on Saturday with the best finish in the top flight that day, a powerful strike that flew in off the underside of the bar after he had drifted in from the left to collect Romelu Lukaku’s excellent pass.
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Martial’s command of the English language is not yet good enough for him to explain the mechanics behind United’s match-winning goal or his excellent form. “Yes, it was a very great finish, thanks,” the forward said at the end of a brief MUTV interview.
Mourinho was far more articulate. “We know when we put him in the one v one situation it’s difficult for the full back because he has so many attributes — he can go inside, he can go outside, he can shoot to the far post or he can shoot to the near post like he did today,” the United manager said.
Rashford’s recent form is inferior to Martial’s, but between them they have scored 20 goals and registered 11 assists this season, even though they have started only six games together. That left-sided attacking position of Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 system is where United have looked their most threatening. Mourinho will often start with Martial and replace him with Rashford — or vice versa — as the opposing right back tires after being worn down by the pace and trickery.
The player who is now most at risk because of United’s pursuit of Sánchez is Juan Mata, who played on the right at Turf Moor. The Spaniard is one of the most technically gifted players at the club, but does not possess the speed to match his contemporaries. On one occasion during the second half it was almost painful to watch Mata try to run on to a cross-field pass from Ashley Young. The left back had rolled the ball ten yards in front of Mata, but the Spaniard was beaten to it by Charlie Taylor, the Burnley left back, despite sprinting at full speed. Mata has just four assists and three goals this season. He averages a goal every 446 minutes whereas Martial scores once every 152 minutes and Rashford once every 196 minutes. Mata, 29, is strong-willed and a popular member of the squad, but he is yet to hear whether United plan to trigger the years’ option on his contract and as it stands, he is free to speak to foreign clubs over a Bosman transfer.
Mourinho could slot Sánchez into Mata’s place, although only five of the Chilean’s goals at Arsenal came from the right-hand side of the area.
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Perhaps the best fit would be to move Sánchez into the centre and play him as a No 10. Jesse Lingard has performed well in that role and Mourinho likes the England player’s work rate, but he is almost as effective on the right. Sánchez could prove to be the perfect foil for Lukaku, whose principal function is to hold the ball up and bring other attackers into play as he did on Saturday when he shrugged off Ben Mee and Steven Defour before laying the ball through to Martial. “Yeah, that was amazing,” Mourinho said of Lukaku’s contribution to the goal.
“Sometimes people look at strikers and analyse just the number of goals and it’s not fair, because he is a team player and today the quality, the vision, the pass to make Martial one against one was fantastic.”
Another bit of good news for Mourinho is that Sánchez will be coming into a team that is defensively sound. United have not conceded a goal in 504 minutes, their longest run since Mourinho took charge. Johann Berg Gudmundsson hit the frame of David de Gea’s goal with a free kick and the Iceland player would have had an assist for the equaliser had Chris Smalling not diverted his cross away from James Tarkowski, who was unmarked five yards out.
“We defended well as a team. [Chris] Smalling and [Phil] Jones were giants at the back,” Mourinho said.
Alexis Sánchez
League stats from start of 2016-17 season:
Games played 57
Minutes played 4,730
Goals 31
Minutes per goal 152.58
Assists 13
Chances created(including assists) 129
Chances created per 90min 2.45
Total shots (inc blocked) 198
Shots per 90min 3.77
Shots on target 75
Shots on target per 90min 1.43
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Ratings
Burnley (4-4-1-1): N Pope 7 — P Bardsley 6, B Mee 7, J Tarkowski 7, C Taylor 7 — S Arfield 6 (sub: G Nkoudou 81min), J Cork 7, S Defour 7, J Gudmundsson 7 — J Hendrick 6 (sub: S Vokes 80) — A Barnes 6 (sub: N Wells 89). Substitutes not used A Lindegaard, M Lowton, K Long, A Westwood. Booked Bardsley, Mee, Defour.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): D De Gea 7 — A Valencia 6, P Jones 8, C Smalling 7, A Young 7 — P Pogba 7, N Matic 7 — J Mata 6 (sub: M Fellaini 72), J Lingard 7 (sub: M Rashford 80), A Martial 8 (sub: A Herrera 90+4) — R Lukaku 7. Substitutes not used S Romero, M Rojo, L Shaw, S McTominay. Booked Valencia, Matic, Pogba.
