Erik ten Hag has already had to navigate two widely-covered, significant disciplinary issues by the halfway stage of the 2023/2024 campaign.
More recently, Marcus Rashford saw himself omitted from a match after reportedly spending two nights clubbing in Belfast before reporting ill for last Friday’s training session.
He held talks with Manchester United officials along with his agent at the beginning of the week and it has since been confirmed that the forward took full accountability for the matter and that he would return to action this evening.
Jadon Sancho’s fiasco came early doors and just four matches into the term; he was also dropped from the squad when the Reds travelled to face Arsenal at the Emirates. When quizzed on the £73 million player’s absence, Ten Hag stated that his performances in training hadn’t been up to scratch.
Quick to cover his own back and clear his name, Sancho took to X to rebuff the claims, labelling himself a scapegoat and implying that his manager was lying.
United took direct action on the now-deleted statement and the 23-year-old was soon banished from all first-team action and facilities. At the earliest opportunity for him to do so, he completed a mid-season switch to his former club Borussia Dortmund. It remains to be seen where his future lies when the loan comes to an end this summer.
Ten Hag reiterates club’s stance on such issues
Questions were of course asked over the stark differences in how United handled the situations, but Ten Hag made it clear that both could’ve been easily dealt with in-house.
“We can sort everything out internal[ly], but Jadon chose to go public,” the Dutchman said in yesterday’s press conference, as cited by ManUtd.com.
