Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said that he is positive that Alexis Sanchez’s form will better. However, he said that Manchester United did not force Sanchez to pull out of Chile’s squad for their international friendlies.
Chile manager Reinaldo Rueda said that Sanchez pulled out of the squad that would take on Japan and South Korea in the coming days after consulting with the Manchester United medical staff. Injury problems have kept Sanchez out of first team football. He did not play against Brighton and only had a brief cameo against Tottenham last weekend.
Mourinho approves of Sanchez’s decision but denied claims of the club forcing him to pull out of the international friendlies. He said, “I didn’t ask and I never ask players not to go. I never contact national teams for players not to go. It’s a personal thing between him and the national manager. At the same time, coming from injury he feels that for him it is a much needed two weeks off. He is still in condition to play against Burnley but he feels that after that he needs two weeks to put himself in good shape. And because they are friendly matches in Asia, they made a decision for his good and by consequence for our good, for him not to go.”
Ever since he arrived at Old Trafford, Sanchez hasn’t been able to show his true potential. However, Jose Mourinho believes that the fans will see Sanchez’s true potential soon. He said, “I hope so. I hope we can see it. He had a good pre-season, he had a good start to the season. Then he had a small injury that kept him out and then he came just one day before Tottenham, and he comes into the game with the result 2-0. Let’s see from now. He is committed, he is focused. He works hard. I believe he will improve.”
Mourinho says that while Manchester United has a tough season ahead of them, the reactions after their defeats have been blown out of proportion. He said, “I said that in the summer before the competition started. It’s not especially [difficult] now. Two defeats are two defeats. We still have 35 matches to play.”
Manchester United are in the same group as Juventus in the Champions League which means that Cristiano Ronaldo will play at Old Trafford. The last time Ronaldo played at Old Trafford, Mourinho was the manager at Real Madrid. And Mourinho believes that the Portugal captain will enjoy his visit to Old Trafford this time. Mourinho said, “I think he will like it. He was happy to come back when he was at Real Madrid. He comes back to do a job for them, like he did for Real Madrid. But I think he is very happy to come.”
Manchester United take on Burnley today.
