The Chilean national team is preparing for two simple friendlies to be played against Costa Rica and Honduras in the next few days, and there’s not a lot of pressure on the squad for it.
But the treatment that Alexis Sanchez has been getting is completely different due to his form at Manchester United. And it can be easily seen in the local press since he’s joined the squad.
On Tuesday, we covered a story from El Mercurio which compared Sanchez to Arturo Vidal. A former manager was saying the Red Devils’ player couldn’t take criticism and doesn’t have the same mentality as the Barcelona star.
Now on Wednesday, you just need to access La Tercera’s front page to see two stories about Sanchez, and none of them is good.
First, there’s an article showing that it has been over an year since his last goal for Chile. Although Sanchez is the national team’s top scorer with 39 goals, he hasn’t scored since October 2017 in a match against Ecuador.
Then there’s another comparison between him and Vidal, the pair supposed to be the leaders of the squad. It’s said that although the Barcelona player has been loud in the training sessions, Sanchez has been acting differently.
Here we selected a paragraph from the article.
“Far from that rude leader, a silent Alexis Sanchez. The Manchester United striker is silent, something that is repeated with his weak presence in the Premier League. And although in Pinto Durán he has always been one of the most reserved, yesterday he was even more so. After the session ended, the former Udinese player went to sit on one of the benches near the training pitches. He was alone for at least half an hour, while, for example, Pinares, Opazo, Castillo and Reyes played tennis-soccer. Only at the end Junior Fernandes approached, perhaps one of his greatest friends football has given him. From the Chilean camp people tell that Alexis is undoubtedly seen as a leader in football, within the pitch, but little in the group.”
