Alexis Sanchez was indulged too long. That has always been the problem for Manchester United. Not that they started it.
At Arsenal, Sanchez was allowed to perpetuate the idea that his team-mates were always to blame. He was allowed to talk — or in his case, gesticulate — a better game than he was playing. United are now making the same mistake with Paul Pogba.
No sooner had Manchester United's season started in the brightest way possible, than Pogba was up to his divisive tricks again.
'Only time will tell — this question mark remains,' he said when asked about his future, now the domestic transfer window had closed. So far, so tiresome. But it was Pogba's view of his performance levels that really caught the eye. 'I always give it everything,' he said. 'I give the maximum each time.'
Sanchez got away with it at Arsenal, too. He lived the easy life, able to shift the blame elsewhere and unwilling to accept any personal responsibility, even when it was obvious his own form had dipped. Everyone saw those games, and too many fell for it.
The arm-waving, the sulking, the hunched shoulders, the anguished expression. Poor Alexis. If only he had better around him, what a player he could be. And people forgot that, at Barcelona, he did have better around him and the way that worked out was he couldn't get in the team. He certainly had better at United.
As was seen on Sunday, it is possible to get a tune out of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, and Manchester United thought they had bought a world-class forward to accompany them.
Maybe they thought his presence would be an inspiring challenge for the younger members of the squad, too. A player they could look up to, who would show what it took to reach the elite level.
That is why Sanchez was deemed so valuable. Yet he swiftly brought his Arsenal attitude to United. He was a poor example to the young players, a negative in the dressing room.
Now he is being encouraged to leave before the transfer window shuts in Europe — but, unsurprisingly, no suitors can afford his wages. What a disastrous transfer this has been.
Its only worth will be if United learn their lesson in dealing with Pogba. He is spinning his performances, just as Sanchez did at Arsenal. It won't end well, if he is further indulged.