Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned Alexis Sanchez that he must begin to “find himself” at Manchester United after another underwhelming performance.
Sanchez replaced the injured Jesse Lingard midway through United’s Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday but could not help prevent a 2-0 defeat.
The Chilean became United’s highest-earning player upon his arrival from Arsenal last year but has since struggled to justify his £300,000-a-week basic salary.
Sanchez is not currently part of Solskjaer’s first-choice line-up and has made just three starts for since the Norwegian’s appointment as caretaker manager in December.
When Solskjaer was asked what he himself could do to help Sanchez, the United caretaker laid responsibility solely at Sanchez’s door.
“I'm not the one. I can't do anything about Alexis Sanchez,” Solskjaer said. “When he plays he needs to find himself because we know there's a quality player there.”
Solskjaer went on to admit that once Anthony Martial joined Lingard in departing the pitch injured, United’s front three struggled.
Martial was replaced by Juan Mata but neither he nor Sanchez could inspire United to reduce their first-leg arrears.
“That's the reality. Jesse and Anthony are big parts of our squad,” Solskjaer said. “They’ve played really well.
“Second half we didn’t have so much movement and pace to get in behind. Juan got on the ball for us and created a few bits. We need to find a different way to play when Anthony and Jesse are out.”
