Neil Humphreys: Last chance to shine, Sanchez
United's forgotten star must deliver against old club Arsenal
The piano was always going to be a mistake.
When Alexis Sanchez swopped Arsenal for Manchester United in unpopular circumstances, the last thing he should have done was tinkle the ivories on camera.
| ARSENAL | MANCHESTER UNITED |
He's not Freddie Mercury and he hasn't rocked anyone at Old Trafford.
It was a weird decision at the time, announcing Sanchez's arrival with a weird video of him playing a piano in full United kit.
Now, exactly a year later, the video seems strangely poignant. It was the last time he was in tune for the club.
If Marouane Fellaini came to represent the demise of David Moyes, then Sanchez became a symbol of Jose Mourinho's confusion and dogma.
He never utilised Sanchez properly. He never trusted him in a particular position and eventually, predictably, he gave up.
The man who came in from Chile was left out in the cold.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has promised to bring Sanchez back, for one night only, in a performance that could resurrect - or pretty much end - his United career.
The opponents, inevitably, are Arsenal, where Sanchez scored 80 goals in 166 games, where he felt nothing but love until he signed for United in a swop deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and made that daft piano clip.
The tournament, inevitably, is the FA Cup, where Sanchez enjoyed his greatest success, scoring in the 2017 final and waltzing away with Man-of-the-Match honours.
Fate is a cruel mistress and Sanchez can expect boos from the hosts at the Emirates tomorrow morning (Singapore time).
But he'll be jeered from all sides if he fails for United.
No one expected his fall to be so steep in just 12 months.
In fact, the smart money was on the other guy. Mkhitaryan left Old Trafford desperately hoping to save his faltering career at Arsenal.
As expected, the Armenian joined Arsenal's long line of effete, slight and sensitive artists and has struggled ever since.
But Sanchez was going to be the sure-fire success. He was a brutish presence, the kind that Mourinho typically favoured.
But it didn't happen. The debilitating cult of Mourinho's moaning also dragged down the teak-tough character expected to lift dressing room spirits.
The smiley Sanchez at Arsenal pretty much stayed there, leaving his impressive stats behind.
MOROSE AND MALIGNED
The morose, maligned 30-year-old at United has managed only 32 games, four goals and nine assists in a year, unable to earn the trust of his erratic manager.
Mourinho's incorrigible ego, along with his stubborn refusal to loosen United's tactical straitjacket, played a part in Sanchez's decline, but the Chilean wasn't entirely blameless either.
Like Paul Pogba, he went missing in key games.
Mourinho often played Sanchez out of his position, denying his forward a chance to cut inside from his favoured left side, but Sanchez didn't take enough responsibility on the pitch.
At Arsenal, he delighted with his bull in a china shop antics. At United, the bull vanished.
He turned into the china, becoming fragile and static, like he was afraid he was going to break. He didn't demand possession or dominate opponents.
He didn't really do anything, leaving Mourinho with little choice but to drop a player earning a reported £505,000 (S$893,000) a week.
But Solskjaer will pander to his forward, a little, giving Sanchez his preferred role on the left, with Anthony Martial and/or Marcus Rashford expected to take a breather.
United are involved in three cup competitions and a top-four finish now looks a distinct possibility. Rotation will be necessary in the coming weeks and Solskjaer has a degree of empathy for Sanchez.
Despite his terrific scoring record, Solskjaer was often the odd man out under Sir Alex Ferguson, the third-choice striker when United played two up front.
He's not merely paying lip service to his disillusioned striker. Sanchez should get decent game time against Arsenal and beyond, as long as he delivers.
That's the obvious caveat and the fundamental difference between Sanchez and Solskjaer. Whether he was a sub or a starter, Solskjaer kept scoring. Sanchez hasn't.
And Solskjaer was probably paid less than a tenth of Sanchez's ludicrous salary.
Even if the interim coach tolerates Sanchez's mercurial form, the boardroom won't, not in a week when United were unseated as world football's biggest earners, falling behind Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The Glazers already have 505,000 reasons to offload Sanchez at the end of the season, but Solskjaer may need just one.
The FA Cup fourth round looks like a final audition for the Chilean.
Hit a bum note against Arsenal and it's all over for United's piano man.
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