Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag doesn’t know when winger Jadon Sancho will return to first-team duties.
After making an impressive start to the season, Sancho’s form has worsened in recent months and Ten Hag says he saw a marked dip in the player’s form and confidence after he was not selected for England’s Nations League matches in the autumn.
“Sometimes there are circumstances with fitness and mood,” Ten Hag said, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“He was not in the right status or fitness state.”
I recall writing about it at the time… How Sancho deserved a call up to the England squad to prove himself ahead of the World Cup, whereas by being overlooked that time, he knew his World Cup dream was over.
Ten Hag has a job on his hands to get Sancho back to his best. He must find out what exactly is to blame for shattering his confidence and find a way to ensure it doesn’t continue to happen throughout his career.
The manager has decided to send Sancho to work away from the remainder of the squad to concentrate on getting his fitness and mindset right. It also makes sense that he deleted all of the content on his social media accounts.
“I have had several talks with Jadon,” Ten Hag added. “He’s on a physical programme and our aim is to get him back as quickly as possible, but I can’t give a prognosis of when that will be.”
Ten Hag believes that missing out on the England squads for the last Nations League round of fixtures was a significant kick in the teeth for Sancho – and a big factor in his decline. He didn’t say this for the sake of having a dig at Gareth Southgate because the manager is fully aware of the England’s array of attacking talent.
“There’s huge competition with England,” he said. “Even at the World Cup, every game is difficult to know who to start because there’s so much talent in the offensive line.
“When you don’t show it week by week you can fall out of the squad, which is what happened.
“When the league started he played some good games, but after we got a drop of levels. Sometimes you don’t know why or what is causing it.
“Most of the time it comes slowly. First you observe but the stats back it up. In the start of the season he had goals and assists but his key moments and key actions became less and less.
“It’s a combination of physical but also mental. We’re trying to research and get him back.”
