5 mistakes made by Jose Mourinho this season

#4 Signing Alexis Sanchez

A necessary signing?

Now before you reach for my throat with your right hand and for the frying pan with your left to smack the devil out of me, I need y'all to take a couple of deep breaths and just see if I make sense or not.

Before signing Alexis Sanchez, Jose Mourinho only had a had a happy problem to deal with on the left wing. It was a captivating contest between Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial- two bright and talented youngsters who were lighting up Old Trafford in tandem and United were only growing richer thanks to the intense rivalry.

And then came Alexis Sanchez. Of course, Alexis Sanchez is a great player and there are no two ways about it. He is slowly coming to his own and is winning games for Manchester United. But the cost of that could be one of the brightest young prospects in European football right now - Anthony Martial.

Martial's game time has been criminally cut short owing to the aura of the Chilean and several rumours have now surfaced suggesting that the Frenchman is looking for a move away from the club.

Also, right after Alexis Sanchez came in, Manchester United fell into a sort of slump. They lost against Newcastle United and crashed out of the UEFA Champions League. While this is not all Sanchez's fault, the fact that he and Pogba were constantly working the same channels restricted both the players' creative output on the field and led to them being criticized a lot by fans and the media alike.

Sure, the Alexis Sanchez deal was too good to pass up but he is 29 years old now. Anthony Martial is just 22 years old. And we have seen glimpses of the magic he has to offer. It will be a pity if in 2 years Sanchez starts declining like he ought to naturally, and Martial starts tearing it up for some other club in Europe.