Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag expects Jadon Sancho to kick on following his penalty success in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.
If any moment summed up Sancho’s frustrating Old Trafford career, it came earlier this month.
After a fine display in the 2-0 triumph over Everton – arguably his best of the entire campaign – Sancho then sunk in Seville as Man United’s hopes of a cup treble went up in a cloud of foul-smelling smoke.
One step forward, two giant strides in the opposite direction.
But, ahead of Thursday’s meeting with a crisis-hit Tottenham Hotspur, Ten Hag hopes that the manner in which the under-fire Sancho dispatched his Wembley penalty four days ago can be something of a sliding doors moment in his stop-start United career.
Can Jadon Sancho kick on for Manchester United?
“I think we have seen in the season many times very good performances from Jadon,” Ten Hag tells Manchester Evening News. “And I think definitely that moment on Sunday will strengthen him even more. Give him more courage, more belief, definitely.
“We all know what happened and I think you have to recognise it and reward it. What he did on Sunday, to step behind the ball…
“And it was such a good penalty. I was so convinced (he would score).”
Sancho, of course, missed from the spot the last time he stepped up in a Wembley shoot-out. Both he and Marcus Rashford put their European Championship heartbreak behind them, however, as Man United set up an FA Cup final clash with arch rivals Manchester City.
“(Sancho and Rashford) stepped up and that is very good. It shows they have character and personality and that can help us,” Ten Hag adds.
“There are a lot of questions about bouncing back in the game. (You have to) show the personality and, when things are not going in your direction, make sure you turn it around.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
