Three goals for £20m a year: Is this all Alexis has to offer Man United?

The Chilean is the highest-paid player in the league and is doing what is asked of him, yet looks nothing like the forward that excelled at Arsenal

That’s three wins in a row for the first time this season for Jose Mourinho and Manchester United.

With games against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Derby County and West Ham coming up before Valencia in the Champions League in two weeks’ time, there is certainly the potential to add more victories and gain more confidence.

The defeats to Brighton and Tottenham were setbacks. United’s profile is so big that any kind of loss is taken as a sign of impending crisis. Two in a row and we’re in meltdown territory.

Throw in Jose Mourinho’s tax charge in Spain, his rant towards the press in the aftermath of the Spurs game and a pretty high-profile fight through the media with his most expensive player, Paul Pogba, and you begin to understand United is less a football club and more a soap opera.

Burnley, Watford and Young Boys are not exactly names to strike fear in the heart but United have been convincing in each of their last three games. Pogba, in particular, has come on leaps and bounds from the start of the season, while the likes of Luke Shaw and Romelu Lukaku gain consistency.

All would appear to be rosy in Mourinho’s garden right now, with winnable games and gettable points on the horizon. But there are still problems to solve. Not least the issue of Alexis Sanchez.

The Chilean is playing decently. He is industrious and productive. No United player has created more chances (nine) in the Premier League this season. He is United’s designated leader of counters and, in that regard, is doing his job well.

But he could be doing more. Jose Sulantay – who coached a Chile Under-20 side including Sanchez to third place at the 2007 World Cup – stated this week that Mourinho’s tactics are not designed to get the best from a player of his type.

“I notice him being unbalanced and quite negative,” he told El Mercurio. “It will be hard for him to return to his great level if he continues like this.

“And well, there’s little help from Jose Mourinho’s defensive game, which is based on long balls, skipping the sector where he plays. That should worry him. Hopefully, the picture improves.”