Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expressed his frustration with Alexis Sanchez following yet another substandard performance against Paris Saint Germain.
The Chilean was introduced on the left for the second half in light of Anthony Martial suffering a muscle injury.
And his influence on the game was non-existent as PSG, buoyed by injuries to Martial and Jesse Lingard, dominated the ball and were able to play higher up the pitch. The ball simply bounced off Sanchez whenever it came near him.
Speaking after the game, Solskjaer voiced a clear element of exasperation at the 30-year-old’s lack of impact on the game.
“I can’t do anything about Alexis Sanchez,” he said. “When he plays he needs to find himself because we know there’s a quality player there.”
The conditions were difficult for Sanchez, who along with Mata could not put the necessary pressure on PSG from the front to keep Man United in the game.
But there was, even so, an unmistakable sense of Sanchez being even further behind the rest. Some players – like, say, Paul Pogba last night – perform below their standards; with others, it’s like they aren’t even on the pitch, or may as well not be.
Sanchez falls into that latter bracket. It is much more than a problem of ability: his confidence is completely and utterly shot.