These lads are losing the plot
We need to make a move for Ralf guys.
Another lad blaguarded by Man Yoo
He tried, but like many before him soon realised he was at nothing because as long as Banquo was there, nothing was achievable.
Jadon Sancho has one last chance to save his Manchester United career
Winger has been banished from first-team squad following his public criticism of Erik ten Hag, leaving his future at the club in doubt.
There are times when Jadon Sancho locks the door of the academy team dressing room, alone with his thoughts, and must wonder how it has come to this.
A £73 million move to Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund in July 2021 was supposed to provide the platform and exposure for the England winger to take his game to the next level.
But, of all the expensive signings who have funnelled through Old Trafford in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, few have found the going as tough or delivered as little on their promise as Sancho.
Sancho was given three months away by Ten Hag last season to address his physical and mental conditionand now, for very different reasons, he finds himself working alone again. This time he is exiled from the first-team squad after a feud with the manager that is about to extend into a seventh week and shows no immediate signs of ending, despite the efforts of team-mates, staff and executives to break the impasse.
Visit United’s Carrington training base on any ordinary day and, away from the noise and bustle of the under-18 and under-21 teams, let alone the first-team squad, you will find Sancho working one-to-one with individual coaches.
It is a sad sight and some details, in particular, point to the extent of the separation and isolation, which in itself feels uncomfortable given what Sancho worked through personally last season. Banished from the first-team set-up while he refuses to apologise to Ten Hag over his public outburst at the start of last month, Sancho must change in the academy dressing room.
But because strict safeguarding rules prevent him from sharing a dressing room with those academy players who are still classed as minors, the 23-year-old must change alone and with the door locked so there is no risk of anyone entering.
After a truncated last season and now this, it does not feel like Sancho does what he is paid to do very often these days and the longer his exile persists the more fans may wonder if they will see the player in that famous red shirt again.
There is, it should be said, a route back at Old Trafford for Sancho, or at least the pretence of one.
Ten Hag does not just want Sancho to say sorry in private, he requires a full public apology to mirror the action that saw the player take to social media and effectively accuse his manager of lying over the reasons for his absence in the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on Sept 3.
According to Ten Hag, Sancho was omitted because of his “performance in training”, to which the player reacted by telling his 2.2 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) that there were “other reasons” and that he had been made “a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair”.
There have been other battles with Sancho, not least around his time-keeping, but speak to those with visibility of the situation and they will say such matters have been resolved. It is that social media post and its contents that remain at the crux of the problem.
Ten Hag, determined to enforce a code of discipline and raises standards at a club who have lost their way, is not for backing down.
The problem is that Sancho, so far at least, appears unwilling to do either. In his mind, there have been notable inconsistencies in the way Ten Hag has applied certain rules in relation to him compared to team-mates. Nonetheless, the ball remains in his court. As one source put it: “Jadon can easily solve this tomorrow.”
The clocks go back at the end of the month and maybe the impending onset of winter or the prospect of a new minority shareholder, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, taking control of football operations at Old Trafford will spark a change of stance but, until then, the stand-off remains.
There has not been a shortage of people looking to resolve the matter. John Murtough, United’s football director, has been heavily involved but other support staff have tried to reason with Sancho, too. Even his United team-mates, including some of his closest allies in the dressing room, have urged him to apologise and end the dispute. Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, Sancho’s England colleagues, are among those who hope the situation can be put to bed, as is captain Bruno Fernandes.
They understand Sancho has his grievances but also recognise that making accusations about a manager in public will have consequences. Plenty in United’s squad recognise that discipline had dropped to such a level in the final season before Ten Hag came in that things had to change. Rashford, for example, apologised swiftly after being dropped from the starting XI against Wolves last Christmas after being late for a team meeting and everyone moved on.
Can Sancho and Ten Hag do the same? There is little denying his Old Trafford future is in doubt and, if an apology is not forthcoming, it would be no surprise if United sought to move him on in the January transfer window.
Equally, even if he does apologise, Ten Hag is likely to need a lot of convincing in training and on match days that Sancho is a player who should stay along for the ride beyond the short-term.
Fernandes must have no standing whatsoever if he cant sort this out.
You should have posted up the article from the Times. They have a map of the training ground and all.
1 Like
Sad reality of Jadon Sancho’s Manchester United exile
The winger went from £73 million sensation to pariah. How did it happen, what does it feel like and is there an end in sight? Here are the answers . . .
,
,
Wednesday October 18 2023, 10.30pm BST, The Times
Share
Save
The academy complex at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground has resembled a building site over the past few months.
Contractors have been working overtime to construct a new annexe that will accommodate the women’s team as well as the youth squads. The vast indoor pitch is still in place, as is the auditorium in which Sir Alex Ferguson held most of his press conferences.
But now attached to the front is a £7 million extension that contains separate changing rooms, a canteen, video analysis rooms, offices, a medical treatment centre and two gyms: one for the women and the other for the youngsters.
On the red walls of the new academy gym, inspirational messages such as “Every winner was once a beginner” have been daubed in white paint.
Sancho is using United’s academy facilities while he trains away from the first team
MATTHEW PETERS/GETTY IMAGES
It is an impressive facility and there are certainly worse places for professional athletes to train, but Jadon Sancho probably thought he would never set foot in the building.
ADVERTISEMENT
For most of his 27-month spell with United, Sancho has been training, eating and practising at the other end of the 108-acre complex, which houses the first team. That all changed on the evening of September 3, when he pressed send on a social media post that led to his suspension, exile from the first team and possibly the end of his United career.
An hour earlier Erik ten Hag was asked why Sancho had been left out of the squad for the 3-1 defeat by Arsenal. “[Based] on his performance on training, we didn’t select him,” the United manager said.
That infuriated the 23-year-old, who responded with a 111-word post that began with the words: “Please don’t believe everything you read”, and went on to claim that he had been a “scapegoat” for United’s poor form. Sancho’s post caused anger among senior staff. “He’s basically called the manager a liar,” one reflected.
Ten Hag suspended Sancho the next week. Now, 35 days on, it can be revealed that United are willing to let Sancho leave and that Borussia Dortmund have already held discussions internally about the prospect of re-signing the winger, either permanently or on loan, when the transfer window opens in January.
Why did Sancho go public with his anger towards Ten Hag last month? His post suggested he felt he had been disrespected by his manager.
In his eyes he had trained well. In his social media post Sancho said there were “other reasons” why he spoke out, but the winger refused to divulge them publicly. One is thought to be the idea that Ten Hag gives more leeway to some members of his squad than others.
Ten Hag said recently that there was a way back for Sancho if he apologised, but some insiders doubt if any apology could be deemed sincere given the history between the two
MARTIN RICKETT/PRESS ASSOCIATION
That is a view shared by a handful of other squad members, but countless fringe players up and down the country probably feel the same about their manager.
Why did Ten Hag say what he did about Sancho in his press conference? Because those were his true feelings.
ADVERTISEMENT
Some previous United managers have been told it is OK to tell reporters a white lie now and again, but the staff around Ten Hag and the man himself agree that such a practice is outdated and flawed.
The Dutchman wants to be straight with the media, and the fans who read their work. Other staff agreed that Sancho had not been giving his all at Carrington. It is understood that Sancho strongly denies this.
In the build-up to the Arsenal match the young trio Dan Gore, Facundo Pellistri and Hannibal Mejbri had bust a gut in training and, in Ten Hag’s eyes, it would have been unfair if they had been left out of the squad, so he dropped Sancho. Some players are simply not good trainers. They prefer to keep their best performances for match days.
The likes of Pellistri, middle, and Mejbri, right, have impressed Ten Hag with their efforts in training more than Sancho
AP PHOTO/JON SUPER
However, Sancho has performed poorly in his three substitute appearances this season and, save for a handful of games last year, he has hardly lit up the Premier League since his £73 million switch from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.
In his 82 appearances Sancho has scored 12 goals and set up another six. At Dortmund he was involved in 114 goals in 137 matches. Standards are higher in the Premier League than the Bundesliga, but United were still expecting much more from their investment.
United gave Sancho a few days to apologise for his post publicly, privately — to Ten Hag — and sincerely. But when the deadline passed, the United manager banished the player from the first team.
Ten Hag has claimed publicly in his press conferences that Sancho has committed several transgressions during his time working under the Dutch coach. It is understood that Sancho was late for one journey on pre-season but those close to him insist he does not have a problem with timekeeping.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sancho is not seen as a troublesome character in his social life. Those who know him say that if he is out with a group of friends, he is the person most likely to turn in early.
Some United staff say they have found it difficult to communicate with him during training sessions, when he has appeared withdrawn. It is unclear why that is the case.
Sancho received deplorable racist abuse after his penalty miss for England in the Euro 2020 final
FRANK AUGSTEIN/GETTY IMAGES
Ten Hag said at one point last season that Sancho was unfit to play because of “physical and mental” factors — a claim that annoyed the player’s camp.
The winger received racist abuse from some England fans after his missed penalty in the Euro 2020 final loss to Italy, the summer before he moved to United. Sancho, like Bukayo Saka and his friend Marcus Rashford, received emails from the FA straight after the final, offering them support, but no matter how thick your skin is, such abuse is bound to have a lasting impact.
Sancho’s daily life in the academy complex since his suspension has been mundane. He is not allowed in any part of the first-team building, including the canteen, so his meals are carried to him in the academy facility in a black takeaway box — with a United badge on it and a plastic lid.
Cristiano Ronaldo was told he could not enter the first-team dressing room last October, during his one-match suspension for refusing to come off the bench against Tottenham Hotspur. Unlike Sancho, Ronaldo apologised.
Sancho trains on the academy pitches away from the rest of the youngsters and with only a coach for company. Occasionally he watches under-18 matches.
ADVERTISEMENT
Safeguarding rules dictate that, because the building contains minors, Sancho must change on his own and lock the door behind him before removing his clothes.
One prominent figure who works in the academy said he was “uneasy” about the severity of the punishment, particularly given Sancho’s struggles last season, but the club are backing Ten Hag and have sought legal advice to make sure that they are not guilty of breach of contract.
Article 14(2) of Fifa’s regulations on the status and transfer of players states: “Any abusive conduct of a party aiming at forcing the counterparty to terminate or change the terms of the contract shall entitle the counterparty (a player or a club) to terminate the contract with just cause.”
Ten Hag’s superiors support his drive to improve standards and discipline and concede that he may have to crack a few eggs along the way to achieve that. They believe that had Sancho been allowed to get away with his outburst, it could have led to a collapse of squad discipline.
Ten Hag said recently that there was a way back for Sancho if he apologised. “He knows what he has to do,” he said, but some doubt whether any apology could really be deemed sincere given the history between the two.
Sancho was considered one of the most promising young players in Europe at Dortmund
JOHN MACDOUGALL/POOL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Most of the players agree that Sancho was in the wrong and should apologise. United’s director of football, John Murtough, among others, has spoken to Sancho but, despite his intervention, and that of the Professional Footballers’ Association, the impasse remains.
Ten Hag feels particularly aggrieved because he in effect gave Sancho a three-month break last season to restore his “physical and mental” fitness, but the time off had little effect.
This time last year Ten Hag and his inner circle organised a mini training camp in the Netherlands for Sancho, during which he trained with three coaches — one of whom came from the United manager’s home town of Haaksbergen — that specialised in mental health, technical training and fitness.
Sancho trained on one of ten pitches belonging to the amateur side OJC Rosmalen, in the south of the country. Sancho’s data, fed back to United, was good, but the player failed to hit form upon his return to the team in February.
Terzic, the Dortmund head coach, is a keen admirer of Sancho and could be willing to offer an escape route
ALEXANDRE SIMOES/BORUSSIA DORTMUND/GETTY IMAGES
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to conduct an audit of the squad when he takes charge of football operations, but the early indications are that the billionaire is a fan of Ten Hag’s methods so there is no guarantee that Sancho will be recalled if his offer to buy 25 per cent of the club is ratified by the board.
Dortmund may be able to offer the winger a way out. It is understood that Edin Terzic, the Dortmund head coach who worked with Sancho during his time at the German club, has kept in touch with the winger and that his superiors have discussed the possibility of the player returning in January.
Dortmund are two points behind the Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen after seven matches. Terzic, not an overly tactical coach, likes star players who can win matches with flashes of inspiration and he places Sancho in that category.
Money is likely to be a sticking point. Dortmund are unwilling to cover Sancho’s £300,000-a-week wages and are not ready to pay anywhere near the £73 million fee that they received for him just over two years ago.
Still, the interest from Dortmund is there, and other clubs will surely throw their hats into the ring. Now it is up to all parties to decide on the next step.
Nothing on the map to say where Sancho is parking?
hes in ole’s spot
Sir Jim Radcliffe Is spending crazy money for what he’s getting.
Sir? Royalist pig
1 Like
The most expensive squad in the universe?
Ten Fags won’t be happy until poor Sancho does something stupid like taking his own life.
Despicable carryon
What a bizarre comment.
1 Like
I see the head of the Team Sky doping/cycling team will be overseeing football operations.
Could see an uptick in Onana’s form.
1 Like
Where did you see that?
Paul Mitchell formerly of Monaco is being lined up I’m led to believe.