Manchester United imposed a strong disciplinary action on Jadon Sancho. This appears to be because Sancho did not accept requests for a public apology.
On the 14th (Korean time), Manchester United officially announced on the club’s website, “Sancho will be excluded from first-team training until the issue of player discipline is resolved. He will proceed with individual training.”
In relation to this, the British Telegraph reported surprising news on the 15th, saying, “Sancho refused coach Ten Haag’s request for a public apology. As a result, he was immediately expelled from the first team squad. Sancho considers himself a victim of the club’s double standards.” reported.
Sancho, born in England in 2000, grew up at Manchester City’s youth academy. And without making his professional debut for Manchester City, he moved to Dortmund in 2017. It was in the 2018-19 season that Sancho, who gradually increased his playing opportunities, made his name known. At that time, Sancho scored 12 goals and 14 assists in the German Bundesliga.
안전놀이터The outstanding performance continued. He continued the following season, scoring 17 goals and 16 assists in the league. Manchester United expressed interest in this. However, transfer negotiations did not proceed smoothly at first. Dortmund maintained its stance that it could not sell Sancho, a key player.
In the end, Sancho remained at Dortmund in the 2020-21 season. At the beginning of the season, he was unable to show his original performance, possibly due to transfer rumors. Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke at the time also directly addressed the issue. He said, “I think Sancho was probably unconsciously convinced that he would leave for Manchester United in the summer of 2020. Naturally, he had concerns about the transfer, and I think this affected his performance.”
Watzke added: “Over the next few weeks, Sancho worked incredibly hard to get back to his normal form. Once he starts scoring two or three goals, he will quickly regain his confidence and improve his form. He is still one of the most talented players in the world. “It’s a name,” he added.
Fortunately, Sancho improved slightly in the second half of the season and ultimately finished the season by appearing in 26 Bundesliga games in the 2020-21 season, scoring 8 goals and 11 assists. And I left Dortmund at the end of this season. Manchester United has begun recruiting again. In the end, they brought Sancho in the summer of 2021 by investing a transfer fee of 85 million euros (about 120.4 billion won).
Manchester United has been able to resolve its flank attack with the addition of England’s next-generation winger. But adapting wasn’t easy. In his first season, he appeared in 29 Premier League (PL) games, scoring 3 goals and providing 3 assists. It was different from Dortmund, where he accumulated 20 to 30 attack points in the league alone over the past three seasons.
Last season also failed to show much impact. He tried to show a different side under new manager Erik ten Haag, but things did not go well. In particular, Sancho had trouble managing his condition due to illness ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In the end, he was left out of the England national soccer team’s final roster for the World Cup.
Along with the slump, the mental shock was great. Because of this, Sancho left Manchester United for a while and had personal training time. After a gap of about 100 days, he returned, and ultimately posted 6 goals and 3 assists in 26 PL games.
This season, they made a perfect comeback again. Although the preseason schedule was completed with great enthusiasm, opportunities are still limited. After the opening, he played only as a substitute in three consecutive league games. He was completely excluded from the list for the 4th round match against Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Manchester United’s left and right flanks were occupied by Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, and Anthony. When Rashford was not deployed on the left, Garnacho was given the opportunity, and Anthony started all four games as a right winger. Facundo Pellistri came on as a substitute during the game in place of Anthony.
Sancho came on in place of Garnacho in two of the three matches, and in one match he entered the pitch in place of Anthony Martial. They all played on the left side, and were effectively the third option after Rashford and Garnacho. On the right side, he was relegated to being the 3rd option following Anthony and Pellistri.
Meanwhile, a problem arose. After Sancho was left out of the team against Arsenal, the last game before the international break in September, coach Ten Haag said, “After watching the entire training process, I did not select Sancho. Manchester United always requires a certain level or higher, and he has to match that level.” “It has to be shown,” he said, explaining the reason for Sancho’s exclusion from the list.
When coach Ten Haag pointed out the training results in a frustrating situation, Sancho eventually exploded. He posted on his social media: “Please don’t believe everything! I trained very well this week. I think there are other reasons for not playing. I have been a victim for a long time. All I want is to smile and play football. I am a coach. “I respect every decision made by the staff. I will continue to fight for this team.”
Because of this, rumors of a rift with coach Ten Haag arose. In addition, transfer rumors arose along with claims that Sancho has had an attitude problem for a long time. There were also rumors of a possible trip to Saudi Arabia and a return to Dortmund. For now, he will remain this summer, but if this situation repeats, he may leave in January.
There have been reports that Manchester United players are reacting negatively to Sancho’s comments. Global media ‘ESPN’ said on the 8th, “Now Sancho has to regain the trust not only of coach Ten Haag but also of his teammates. There is no sympathy for him. His teammates are tired of Sancho. The coaching staff too. “I was very annoyed,” he said.
Darren Bent, a former member of the England national soccer team, also said through the British ‘Talk Sports’, “If Sancho wants to stay at Manchester United or has a desire to do so, he should keep his frustration and anger at home. If it were me, I would go to the manager and say, ‘My training level is not good.’ “Please tell me in detail why it is not sufficient,” he said, “and try to resolve it.”
Bent added, “‘But looking at Sancho’s actions, it seems like he wants to leave Manchester United. The challenge on the English stage may be daunting. It’s a shame because Sancho is a good and talented player. Perhaps the PL will follow Sancho’s lead. “I think it’s too fast to go,” he said.
Of course, there is public opinion that supports Sancho. According to Metro, Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler said: “For every football team to do its job properly, there are two things that need to be taken into account. One is around the mental health and wellbeing of the players. This is a huge problem in football. “It is an issue that needs to be seriously considered,” he said.
Fowler continued: “We live in a world where everyone has a voice. When I was a player, there were very few outlets for criticism. But with social media, these days, people can have their voices heard. So, if a manager or a club makes a comment that a player feels is inappropriate, the players have the ability and right to hit back. I don’t want to blame Sancho for reacting negatively. He just did his best. “I just said what I thought,” he added.
As the controversy grew, the post has now been deleted. Regarding Sancho’s controversy, the British ‘Mirror’ said, “Coach Ten Haag did not include Sancho in the playing list for the recent match between Manchester United and Arsenal. He said that the decision was made based on his performance in training before the game. However, Sancho confirmed the truth on social media. “I refuted that no. The post has now been deleted,” the report said.
At the same time, the media said, “Sancho’s problems appear to have existed even before coach Ten Haag took office. He left Dortmund and transferred to Manchester United in 2021. And at the time, the club promised to give Sancho the number 7 jersey. However, Cristiano Ronaldo returned. “Sancho had no choice but to take number 25,” he added.
In addition, Sancho was consistently given opportunities after Ralph Rangnick took over as interim coach, but Ronaldo expressed tactical dissatisfaction, suggesting that Sancho may have been influenced as well. In the end, this means that the current problem is not simply due to a disagreement with coach Ten Haag, but that there has been a problem with Manchester United in the past.
Sancho first deleted his post to calm the immediate controversy, and returned to the training ground after the A-match break. The British Daily Mail reported, “Sancho returned to training after the rumor of a disagreement with coach Ten Haag. Sancho passed the training ground gate in his car. He may have been conscious of the cameras, but he had his hood up.”
However, the result was exclusion from first-team training. According to the Manchester United club’s official announcement, the exclusion period is until the issue of player discipline is decided. Because the exact date has not been released, it is unknown how long it will last.
Coach Ten Haag has in the past responded harshly to players who appear to be superior to the team. It’s Ronaldo. Ronaldo returned around the same time Sancho joined Manchester United. In his first season, he led Manchester United’s attack, scoring 18 goals in the league alone. However, after Ten Haag took office, rumors of discord continued to arise.
In the end, ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Ronaldo said, “Some officials at Manchester United tried to kick me out. Since Sir Alex Ferguson left, Manchester United has not developed at all. Coach Ten Haag does not respect me, so I do not respect him either.” He made a bombshell statement. And he terminated his contract with Manchester United.
Meanwhile, despite the controversy, Sancho was included in the 25-man PL roster for the 2023-24 season. He was specifically included as a homegrown player. The rule requires that the list include at least eight players who have played for more than three years in a team belonging to the English Football Association (FA) before turning 21 years old. Manchester United players who meet this qualification include Sancho, Rashford, Jonny Evans, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Scott McTominay, and Mason Mount.