Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho blames Erik ten Hag for his plight. But he’s wrong to do so.
Out on loan at Borussia Dortmund, Jadon Sancho is playing again in 2024 after failing to start a game in the first half of the season.
Sancho went into self-imposed exile after refusing to apologise to Erik ten Hag after criticising him on social media.
Per BILD, Sancho blames Erik ten Hag for his career going off track. He’s not justified in doing so, and here are five reasons why he must front up and take responsibility…
Sancho struggled under three bosses at United
Erik ten Hag was the third manager to coach Jadon Sancho at United, following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
It wasn’t like Sancho’s opportunities or performances suddenly dropped off when Ten Hag took over. Instead they stayed flatlined.
Sancho struggled the moment he moved to the Premier League, failing to adapt his game to the frenetic pace of English football.
He had his moments, but they were few and far between. During the 2021/22 season, he scored only three Premier League goals in 29 appearances.
Erik ten Hag was patient and gave Sancho an opportunity
Erik ten Hag immediately took a liking to Sancho in his first pre-season and made him a regular in the team, and it began well, before his form tanked in October 2020 and he subsequently missed out on the World Cup.
Sancho was then given an extensive break, with Ten Hag permitting him to go on an individual training camp in the Netherlands, missing around three months of action.
When he returned, Ten Hag ensured Sancho got a full ovation from the Old Trafford crowd by bringing him on mid-game.
He also experimented with Sancho in different positions, trying him out in a central attacking role, but it didn’t work.
Sancho got the start in the FA Cup final too, but delivered a flat performance and did not justify his selection.
Sancho chose to fly abroad instead of proving Ten Hag wrong
Back in September, Sancho will have fired off his post on X in anger after Ten Hag criticised him in training.
He could have spent the subsequent international break proving a point that the manager was wrong to question his application.
Sancho could have spent his time working hard in the gym, on a training pitch, and posted videos and pictures on social media to try and prove a point, and win fans around.
Instead, he flew to the US and was pictured at a party in New York. Former defender Rio Ferdinand criticised this choice, telling Five: “I don’t understand why Jadon would allow that picture to go anywhere. You just don’t go out. Why are you pouring petrol on the fire?
“The fire is blazing right now. If you are going to pick a picture to antagonise, that would be it.”
These actions demonstrated Sancho wasn’t serious about reviving his United career, and only served to back up his manager’s comments.
Pep Guardiola saw a lack of fight too
Through the years, Pep Guardiola has proved an astute judge of what makes a good football player, and he did not put up a fight to stop him leaving Manchester City as a teenager.
Guardiola pointed out how Sancho did not want to compete for a spot on the blue side of Manchester, commenting in 2017: “He didn’t want to take this challenge, this opportunity to discover if he was able to.”
At Manchester United, Sancho had an opportunity to prove Erik ten Hag wrong and reclaim his starting spot. Instead he sulked and forced his exit. Are Erik ten Hag and Pep Guardiola really wrong about him?
Premier League players deal better with manager criticism
Let’s go back to the moment Erik ten Hag called him out. The United boss said: “On his performance in training we didn’t select him. You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. You can make choices in the front line, so in this game, he wasn’t selected.”
Clumsily handed? Yes. But there may have been method to Ten Hag speaking publicly, if he felt he had exhausted his options privately.
And was it really that bad? We have seen other cases this season where managers have spoken in the same way and players have not reacted similarly.
Mauricio Pochettino for instance, called out Chelsea winger Noni Madueke: “Noni is in a position where there’s massive competition, too many players… he needs to compete and raise his level. The competition here is serious. We need top level in training to play on regular basis.”
Madeuke responded by reclaiming a spot in the Chelsea team and rising to the challenge. Was it too much to ask for Sancho to do the same?
At this stage of his career, Sancho must reflect on where it has gone wrong for him. He has handled this badly, and perhaps he just wasn’t cut out for the Premier League. He has chosen to walk away. It’s time to stop blaming Erik ten Hag.
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