Alexis Sánchez arrives in Toronto with CF Montreal still seeking first MLS impact
The Chilean star has no goals or assists in eight appearances since joining the club in August.
TORONTO — Star forward Alexis Sánchez will play at BMO Field for the first time when CF Montreal visits Toronto FC on Saturday, still seeking his first goal or assist in Major League Soccer.
Sánchez, Chile’s all-time top scorer, signed with Montreal as a free agent in August but has yet to make a substantive impact, with no goals or assists in eight appearances and just one shot on target.
“He sees the space, but it doesn't mean everyone else does, right? He has the quality to make a play. But it doesn't mean everyone else does. So, it's almost like everyone is trying to catch up to him,” said Elias Grigoriadis, co-host of The Ball is Round Montreal podcast.
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Toronto coach Robin Fraser, who was an assistant with the New York Red Bulls when Thierry Henry played there, said he still sees Sánchez as a dangerous threat.
“I'm sure [Sánchez is] not the same player he was years ago, but in my experience with older players, the interesting thing when I watch them is that these players find ways to reinvent themselves because you lose a little bit of your athletic dynamic ability. And then all of a sudden, they become very good passers and really good readers of the game,” Fraser said.
“Thierry became one of the best final passers I'd ever seen... And when I watch Sánchez, I see a lot of the same.”
Toronto FC defender Benjamin Kuscevic, a Chilean national teammate of Sánchez for eight years, said he will be keeping close tabs on him.
“Obviously, he's a very important player in the world. He's one of the most important players for our national team,” Kuscevic said.
Montreal sits last in the Eastern Conference and is tied for the third-worst attacking record in MLS with 34 goals in 27 games.
Sánchez, 37, scored 198 goals in an 18-year career with clubs including Arsenal and FC Barcelona but managed only eight goals combined in his last three seasons in Europe with Inter Milan, Udinese and Valencia.
He has been deployed as a No. 10 playmaker in Montreal rather than as an outright striker or winger and did not have a training camp with the team before joining.
Saturday’s match is the second and final regular-season meeting between the rivals, who played to a 0-0 draw in Montreal in July.
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With files from Sportsnet