Jose: Alexis wants to be in the best condition
Jose Mourinho says Alexis Sanchez wants to use the forthcoming international break to ensure he’s in the best possible condition for Manchester United’s busy schedule in the coming weeks.
Following Sunday’s game at Burnley, the Reds have a two-week hiatus as a number of players go away with their countries on international duty.
Upon their return, the trip to Watford on Saturday 15 September is the first of seven games in the space of 21 days in three different competitions for Mourinho’s men.
After a positive pre-season campaign, Alexis has experienced a stop-start beginning to the new season. He played in the opening game against Leicester City but missed the match at Brighton through injury, before returning against Tottenham as a second-half substitute on Monday night.
The boss was asked by reporters, at his press conference ahead of the trip to Turf Moor, whether he thinks we will see a different Alexis from now on, following his first summer off in nine years.
“I hope so,” Jose replied. “I hope we can see that. He had a good pre-season, he had a good start to the season. It was a difficult pre-season for the team, but for him [it] was a good one.
“He then had a small injury that kept him out and came [back] just one day before Tottenham. He came to the game [as a substitute] with the score 2-0 [to Tottenham] so let’s see from now.”
Alexis won't be part of Chile’s squad for their upcoming friendlies against Japan and South Korea. The boss feels it’s a huge positive for United and revealed how determined our no.7 is to ensure he’s in top condition for the run-in ahead.
“He’s not going to the national team for these two friendlies in Japan and South Korea, which is good news for us because after that we play Watford and then immediately play [in the] Champions League [away at Young Boys],” Jose said.
“He’s committed, he’s focused, he works hard. I believe that he will improve. I didn’t ask [Alexis], I never ask players not to go [on international duty] and 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 [back] from injury, he feels that for him it’s a much-needed two weeks in spite of his conditions to play against Burnley.
“He feels that, after that [the game at Turf Moor], he needs two weeks to put himself in good shape and, because of the friendly matches in Asia, they made the decision for his good and, in consequence our good, for him not to go.”