Sancho told "have a look at yourself" amid claims Erik ten Hag regrets clash
Jadon Sancho needs to look at himself if he wants to salvage his Manchester United career after his fall-out with Erik ten Hag.
Former United midfielder Gordon Strachan claimed Sancho needs to learn to handle criticism and develop a thicker skin after Ten Hag's stinging public criticism of him.
Sancho's United future remains unclear after he publicly refuted Ten Hag’s claim he was left out of the squad to face Arsenal because of poor training performances.
Although Sancho has since removed the social media post disputing Ten Hag's claim, the 23-year-old is still facing the prospect of being exiled at United.
Strachan, 66, who played for United from 1984 to 1989, said Sancho must work out what he needs to do to win back his place - rather than taking on Ten Hag in a battle he cannot win.
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“First of all, I think that Jadon Sancho needs to understand that Erik ten Hag hasn’t sat down and started talking about the player of his own accord,” said Strachan. “He’s simply answering a question from a reporter.
“Players always want the truth from their manager. In this instance, Erik ten Hag has answered the question honestly and the player hasn’t liked his response, but Jadon needs to learn to handle the truth. I think, in hindsight, Ten Hag will look back and regret saying what he did through the media and it would have been more effective telling him face-to-face to avoid what we’ve got now.
Jadon Sancho's time at Manchester United has gone from bad to worse (Getty Images)“However, Jadon needs to look at himself and figure out what he’s doing wrong, rather than feeling as though he’s being attacked. Of course, we don’t know the whole story, but that’s how I see it from the outside.
“The first thing I would say to a player is 'have a look at yourself'. Look at yourself before anybody else, it’s as simple as that. Go and look at your games and tell me if that’s as good as you think you can be.
“If it is, then you can’t play here because the standard is far bigger at Manchester United than anywhere else. If I was that young man, I would have a look at myself and apologise to the manager.”
United cannot afford to suffer defeat at home to Brighton on Saturday, having already lost two of their first four Premier League games this season. Ten Hag's side are already playing catch-up in the league, after defeats to Tottenham and Arsenal, with Strachan branding them “mundane”.
Erik ten Hag's Manchester United have made a mixed start to the season (Getty Images)“It’s been an average start to the season for United,” Strachan told gamblingzone.com. "There hasn’t been anything disastrous or anything that has really stood out. They’ve relied on a couple of moments of magic from some individual players and have had some moments where the defending has been pretty average.
“It’s all a bit mundane at the moment. When you watch the football, nothing is blowing you away and nothing is impressing you. Most of the focus seems to be around off-the-field activity.
“The fans want the Glazers out and, if you’re fans are spending all their time focusing on that, it tells you that the football that is being played isn’t providing much entertainment.”
Strachan reckons Ten Hag's main problem is with his midfield trio of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes, which he claimed is not clicking.
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“Individually, United have some brilliant players,” said Strachan. “Casemiro, Fernandes, Eriksen – they are great players. As a group, something isn’t working. When you have a midfield three like that, you have to also ask if your three players up front are doing enough or offering these players enough protection.
“You need to have that work-rate from your front three players. They need to make the opponents' life a misery when they have the ball by either pressing or holding a shape that doesn’t allow the opposition to move the ball forward.”
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