10 players with the most to prove
By James Dudko
1. Alexis Sanchez, Manchester United
Sanchez has to convince people he’s good enough to be a United player after he chafed under the weight of expectation during the second half of last season.
The Red Devils had paid a king’s ransom to convince him to leave Arsenal back in January. What they got was a sulky star who waved his arms in frustration more times than he scored goals and provided assists.
Sanchez has rarely looked happy in United red, but make no mistake, he is talented enough to drag this team to the title. When he’s on song, not many forwards can produce something out of nothing as often.
Peak Sanchez scores and creates goals with equal proficiency. The problem for United is he did these things for Arsenal. Now it’s time for Sanchez to make the United shirt fit.
Next. The best player on every team at the World Cup. dark
His combination with striker Romelu Lukaku can be the catalyst for a title charge. More than anything else, Sanchez can give Mourinho’s pragmatic team the element of unpredictability and wizardry United have missed since last winning the league in 2013.
Keeping Sanchez happy is a tough and thankless task, just ask Wenger.
Mourinho will have to relent and let Sanchez be Sanchez. It will mean playing him in his preferred position on the left flank and making sure he sees the ball as often as possible.
Sanchez has to be good enough to convince Mourinho to be flexible.