Can he play in the same team as Sánchez?
Alexis Sánchez joining Manchester United in January was a signing that fans couldn’t complain about. They shifted a struggling player – Henrikh Mkhitaryan – to Arsenal and brought in a much better player of the same age. However, Sánchez’s arrival has caused some selection headaches for José Mourinho.
Having strength in depth is a luxury the top clubs often take for granted, but having too many players who want to play in the same position can be counterproductive.
Anthony Martial has spent most of his Man United days playing on the left wing, firstly under Louis van Gaal and more recently under José Mourinho. But Sánchez’s best position is also on the left, or at least that’s how Mourinho seems to see it. Sánchez played predominantly on the right for Udinese and Barcelona, but moved to the left at Arsenal. He is equally adept at both, while Martial struggles on the right. He has less opportunity to drive inside with the ball at his feet and shoot.
During United’s match against Newcastle Utd at St James’ Park this afternoon, fans picked up on this and are calling for their manager to reshuffle the attacking four.
https://twitter.com/NickiiDupre/status/962702213951959040
Martial on the left, Alexis & Lingard flowing through central & right side in the second half. https://t.co/Uz1mWd9LhS
— Adam (@AdamJoseph____) February 11, 2018
Martial right wing. When’s Jose going to learn. Don’t think it’s Alexis putting pressure on him to stay on the left either. 🤦🏽♂️
— Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786) February 11, 2018
#NEWMUN why jose keep playing Martial on the right i will never know, play him left 🙄 please don't say it's cos of alexis Sanchez
— Uche Jombo (@uchejombo) February 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/UnitedStandMUFC/status/962702103553761281
First half showed we need matta at 10 Martial on the left…I would really prefer if Shaw and Rojo were in the game in place of young & Jones #mufc
— ADEWALE ADELEKE (@ChairmanHKN) February 11, 2018
WHY IS MARTIAL ON THE RIGHT AND ALEXIS ON THE LEFT WHILE LINGARD IS IN THE CENTRE???????????????????????
— Sid. (@10EH_) February 11, 2018
PUT MARTIAL ON THE LEFT
PUT MARTIAL ON THE LEFT
PUT MARTIAL ON THE LEFT
PUT MARTIAL ON THE LEFT— 爪ㄩ丂卂 (@Alkalee_Musa) February 11, 2018
Martial on the right just looks and feels so wrong. He is so much better on the left. #mufc
— Diarmuid Gillingham (@ThisIsDiarmuid) February 11, 2018
Before Sanchez came along martial was enjoying the best form of his career on the left wing but after Sanchez came he's been stuck on the right and he looks really confused
— Osunde andrew (@osundeandrew20) February 11, 2018
Deploying Martial on the right restricts him from doing what he’s best at. Sánchez may be the club’s highest paid player, but he might have to slog it out on the right if Mourinho wants to get the best out of all of his attacking players. Either that, or Martial drops to the bench for Juan Mata, but that would seem like more of a waste.
