Sancho's training problems, "petulant" claim and leaving Man Utd teammate angry

07 September 2023 , 05:00

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Sancho's training problems, "petulant" claim and leaving Man Utd teammate angry

Jadon Sancho has now been at Manchester United for just north of two years and has fallen spectacularly short of the lofty expectations many had of him following his £73million move from Borussia Dortmund.

The winger was tipped for big things at Old Trafford, but two years and three managers later Sancho is firmly on the outside looking at Old Trafford and has made no secret of how unhappy he is about it. Following Sunday's 3-1 defeat by Arsenal at the Emirates, Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag revealed that the 23-year-old had simply not been picked purely because of his poor showing in training leading up to the clash.

"Jadon, on his performances in training we did not select him," the Dutchman explained. "You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices in the front line. So for this game, he was not selected."

Sancho, keen to issue his side of the story, quickly uploaded a reply on social media that read: "I will not allow people saying things that are completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well in training.

"I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won't go into. I've been a scapegoat for a long time which isn't fair! All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and (am) grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!"

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The reply has divided fans, with some claiming that Sancho is more than entitled to fight his corner, while others have suggested he should get his head down and simply play his way back into Ten Hag's plans rather than increasing the divide.

What should be noted, however, is that Sancho's Man United demise should serve as no shock and how he has a history of clashing with the club's hierarchy.

Dortmund fall-out

Jadon Sancho felt scapegoated at Borussia Dortmund (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In his first campaign in the Bundesliga, Sancho was sent to train with the reserves after repeatedly showing up late for first-team training. Two years later, after a particularly bad defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, the wide-man is believed to have felt 'scapegoated and humiliated', as per The Athletic.

Sancho was taken off just 36 minutes into Bayern Munich's 4-0 win, which he clearly felt was the wrong decision. As did the player's camp, who thought the fact the winger was seen as the fall guy for such a dismal display was disgraceful.

Just one month after that sorry saga, Sancho was suspended by then-Dortmund boss Lucian Favre for once again returning to the club late after being away on England duty. It has been claimed that given he was just a teenager at the time, the Three Lions ace expected more compassion and care from those running the show at Dortmund.

'Petulant' jibe

Ben Foster was furious with Jadon Sancho after his public disagreement with Erik ten Hag (@UnitedStandMUFC / Twitter)

Former Red Devil Ben Foster has not held back in his assessment of how Sancho handled Ten Hag's public criticism, insisting that if Sir Alex Ferguson was still at the helm the player's United career would be over.

Appearing on the United Stand, Foster claimed: "It is absolutely crazy. If Alex Ferguson is manager and Jadon Sancho did this, he would never see the light of day for Manchester United. He would never play for this club, he wouldn’t be allowed near the training ground, you are done. It is petulant, emotive, reactional and disrespectful.

"It just becomes a massive storm and now everyone wants to know what has happened – has Ten Hag lost the dressing room? What were the training sessions really like? Sancho says it is nothing to do with training, fantastic, you should be applying yourself and putting the work in. That is the minimum. I don’t blame Ten Hag one little bit, as long as that is the truth."

Issues at Old Trafford

Edinson Cavani refused to give up the number seven shirt for Jadon Sancho

While Sancho's problems in Dortmund are by now well-documented, what is perhaps less known is the fact that Sancho had caused an issue early on in his United career.

Back in 2020, a year before Sancho had actually arrived at Old Trafford, United had promised him the number seven shirt as part of their negotiations. That summer, the Red Devils failed to get a deal over the line and by the time they had secured his signature a year later - Edinson Cavani was the proud occupant of the shirt.

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According to The Athletic, Cavani was believed to have been 'put out' after being asked to give up the number seven shirt for Sancho one year on from when he did sign. As a result, the former Manchester City graduate was forced to take the number 25 shirt.

To compound Sancho's misery, Cavani did eventually give up the number seven, but for Cristiano Ronaldo instead. That just about sums up Sancho's underwhelming Old Trafford spell so far.

Josh O'Brien