Alexis Sanchez Has To Embrace Man United’s Number Seven Jersey
The boss is pleased with #MUFC‘s new no.7…#Alexis7 pic.twitter.com/J5YQm11VNG
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 23, 2018
Some shirts at certain football clubs stand-out and at Manchester United the number seven is the one that carries the fondest of memories.
George Best was a wizard in it, Bryan Robson was a machine in it, Eric Cantona was an artist in it, David Beckham was a superstar in it and Cristiano Ronaldo was a magician in it!
Others seem to have shrunk with the expectation that comes with that special jersey. Michael Owen wasn’t special, Antonio Valencia was desperate to return the number and Angel Di Maria only fleetingly had his chance to wear it and it didn’t seem to suit him.
Man United boss has now bestowed the honour of wearing the famous red garment on new signing Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean has proven during his time at Arsenal that he’s a truly gifted individual and can handle the rigours of the Premier League. He possesses the required pace to get past stern defences, he has the finishing qualities to put away chances and he comes alive with the ball at his feet.
Yet when you look at those that have starred in the number seven shirt at Old Trafford, they’ve understood that what they do is all about improving the team.
At times, Sanchez would go off in a huff or berate teammates at Arsenal. He seemed to give off the impression that he cared more and others in his side weren’t winners like he was. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes you have to understand that that can have a negative impact on your teammates and that you can look bad for doing it.
That sort of behaviour won’t be tolerated too often at United. Mourinho wants the focus to be on winning, not on an individual, and you can only win as a team pulling in the same direction. The other players at Man Utd probably won’t accept it either, they also see themselves as winners and have the medals to prove it.
Sanchez at FC Barcelona wasn’t the main man, and I’d imagine we’ll see that forward in Manchester, rather than the attacker out to do it all by himself at times.
When looking at positions I don’t think Alexis will be the wing wizard that others have been in the past, he’ll probably play in the hole like Cantona did in the nineties.
“He will bring his ambition, drive and personality – qualities that make a Manchester United player and a player that makes the team stronger and the supporters proud of their club dimension and prestige.”
To be a success as a United number seven, Alexis Sanchez just has to do it all without doing it all by himself.
The Chilean needs to bring more goals and assists to Manchester United’s team, he needs to give them an added dimension with his pace and craft up-top and he needs to be consistently brilliant. Importantly he also has to embrace the jersey and the club’s supporters.
If he can do all that and help the Red Devils to winning more trophies then the twenty-nine year old will be able to become a club icon like Messrs Best, Robson, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo!
Posted on January 23rd, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article
[…] deploy him in a two or a three man midfield. His problems are further compounded by the fact that Sanchez’s arrival in Manchester, has meant Martial has switched wings and looks far less effective. There are a lot of questions […]