Alexis Sanchez, the highest salaried player in Manchester United history, has been about as big a bust as one could ever fathom. He arrived from Arsenal a year ago and he’s been a shell of the player he once was ever since. Yes, he’s been plagued by injuries, but even when fit he hasn’t produced.
Could that change now that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in charge (on an interim basis)? The returns are very early but we’ve seen Paul Pogba apparently find himself again. With OGS lifting the constraints off of this team, anything is possible now. Sanchez was perhaps ready to face Bournemouth on the weekend, but Solskjaer left him out and it seems definite the Chilean will be involved Wednesday versus Newcastle; his recovery from a serious hamstring injury now complete.
“I think he’s player that would benefit from the interchanging, the rotation, the movement,” Solskjaer said. “The more chances you create, the more times you get the ball into the final third, he’ll be an asset for us.
“I think he’s looking forward to it. He scored quite a few nice goals (during a training session this past weekend) so that was encouraging.”
Solskjaer also said that Alexis “had some great training sessions the last few days,” and that “he wanted to play, but we have to manage him, he’s been out for a month.”
Solskjaer will definitely bring the high priced forward along slowly, as he’s missed the last nine matches, and hasn’t found the back of the net in the past three months.
United at Newcastle FC FYIs
Kick-off: 8:00 pm (BST), 3:00 pm (EST) Wednesday January 2, St. James Park
Google Result Probability: United win- 60%, Draw 23%, Newcastle win- 17%
Odds via odd shark: United win- 61/100, draw- 3/1, Newcastle win- 9/2
Injury report: go to this link
Prediction: United 2, Newcastle 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.