As we covered in detail yesterday, tension is escalating between Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and attacking midfielder Jadon Sancho. Ten Hag has been disappointed in how Sancho has looked in training for some time, and it led the to the forward’s omission from the squad this past weekend. Sancho responded by lashing out on Twitter, and now he could be suspended by his own club for doing so.
It is also worth noting that this is not Sancho’s first rodeo with this kind of thing. He’s gotten in trouble with the leadership of a Manchester club before.
Let’s flash back to his Manchester City days, in July 2017, Sancho was omitted from City’s pre-season tour squad due to a dispute over assurances of playing time in a new contract. Later on, reports surfaced that City were alarmed at Sancho’s attitude after he missed training following a pre-season tour.
Sound familiar?
Honestly, you can change your environment, but you bring yourself everywhere it is that you go.
Sancho wore out his welcome at City, and they were wise to sell him when they could. While Sancho thrived at Dortmund, he’s been a total flop at United thus far, and he’s starting to look like Memphis Depay 2.0 in terms of a transfer deal that didn’t pan out.
You can also compare him to Jesse Lingard (they even physically resemble each other substantially), an English winger who showed flashes of potential, but ultimately fell well short of expectations.
Maybe Sancho is not getting playing time simply because Ten Hag just doesn’t rate him high. After all, he was acquired under Ten Hag’s predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Sancho has only scored 12 goals in 82 appearances for United, and has not started a competitive match thus far this season. That is a very poor return on investment for a player acquired from Borussia Dortmund for £73 million on June 30, 2021. Jadon Sancho still has time to turn it around, but he’s rapidly running out of chances.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.