One of the biggest storylines of the Premier League season thus far has been the highly publicised disagreement between Manchester United star Jadon Sancho and manager Erik ten Hag.
The England player was criticised for not training hard enough and he responded to his coach’s accusations on social media. Sancho was sent back on loan to the German team where he first gained recognition as a result of the incident.
Former Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe, who frequently fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, isn’t sure it’s a dispute that can be settled.
“With the way the manager has treated the situation, I don’t see a way back,” Sharpe tells FourFourTwo on behalf of luckyblock.com.
“We don’t know what’s happened, what’s been said, behind closed doors, but he’s ostracised Jadon by asking him train with the youth team and also by himself.
“Sancho has such ability and I love to watch him when he’s on his game but he hasn’t done it regularly enough since he’s been there. He’s obviously had a conflict with the manager and now he’s at Borussia Dortmund, somewhere he seems far happier. Everyone will be satisfied with things as they stand but he’s still a Manchester United player so a decision will need to be made at the end of the season.
“I never actually went and apologised to Alex Ferguson. The manager would tell me off when I stepped out of line and I would sit there and take it and we’d all move on. Fergie would too – he was good like that. Once you’d had a row and he’d given you the hairdryer treatment you’d be left alone to get on with it.
“It’s tough to compare my day with what’s happened to Sancho because social media means they can go public with their complaints whereas we couldn’t. Unless you went to a newspaper but that wasn’t something people really did.
“We don’t know exactly what went on between Erik ten Hag and Sancho. The player obviously thinks he’s trained well enough and the manager doesn’t. It’s a simple difference of opinion that should have been settled behind closed doors.
“Sancho should probably apologise for the public speaking, even if not for the comments themselves.”
Sancho seems to be enjoying back in Germany with Borussia Dortmund. He has bagged two assists in three matches for the club.
Man United are reportedly willing to let Sancho go permanently at the end of the season, with the club looking to recoup £40-£50million of the £73million they paid to sign him.
Sancho had more than enough chances to prove himself at Old Trafford. When you look at players like Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, you actually see how hungry they are and how much they want to perform for the team.
That was never the case with Sancho. He never really did justice to his price tag, his talent and the responsibility he had as a United player.
