Sancho has already proven why Manchester United should stick with him
Jadon Sancho could well be the ultimate test of Erik ten Hag’s management credentials.
Many pointed to the English winger as the player who would benefit the most from the Dutchman’s arrival when he took over the club earlier this year, as his qualities are aligned with the manager’s preferred approach.
Sancho is technically gifted and has proven himself as an elite forward when he’s at his best, though there has always been an element of caution given that much of his success has happened in the Bundesliga.
There was always a concern that he would struggle with the physicality of top-flight English football and take time to adapt to his new surroundings, and that has certainly been the case. Sancho should have been treated like any other overseas arrival in the Premier League, but due to his nationality, many expected him to effortlessly hit the ground running.
Instead, he is back at square one and making up for lost time at United. Ten Hag says Sancho was not fit enough for the recent training camp in Spain, and the club has not set a deadline for him to return from his trip to the Netherlands to train with Dutch coaches.
United sources maintain Sancho has not been exiled, and figures at the club have been impressed by how delicately Ten Hag has handled the tricky situation.
The Dutchman held a series of discussions with the winger to settle on the best strategy for Sancho to return to optimum fitness and boost his confidence.
The fact that Sancho was happy to do that and to also take a break from social media has proven he is committed to making things work at United and given reason to hope that he can turn his fortunes around.
It is also worth noting how difficult things have been for the 22-year-old in the last 18 months. A mammoth move to United brought with it huge expectations to deliver immediately, but his confidence was naturally knocked by his penalty shoot-out miss in the European Championship final and the fallout that accompanied it.
His confidence took a further hit when the team started poorly in the Premier League and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked. In came Ralf Rangnick, a manager who admired him but also struggled to get the best out of him. At a time when Sancho needed structure, he was met with a shambles.
The arrival of Erik ten Hag marked his third long-term manager since being at the club, making it four if you count Michael Carrick’s caretaker spell. It has hardly been the kind of environment conducive to getting the best out of raw talent that has needed nurturing as part of a well-established structure.
Not only has he had to adapt to different styles of positions on the pitch, but he has also had to deal with different managerial approaches, leading to somewhat of an identity crisis.
Then there was the arrival of Antony this summer. Sancho had originally been signed as the long-term solution to United’s right wing issues, but has now been switched to the left flank, where he is one of many inverted forwards battling for a single starting spot.
In order to reclaim his starring role, he will need to rise above the resurgent Marcus Rashford and the hugely talented Alejandro Garnacho, though he has already shown glimpses of why that might be possible this season.
He has three goals in 14 appearances this season, and the first of those was right out of the top drawer when he kept his cool to calmly put United ahead against Liverpool at Old Trafford.
It was a goal that showcased Sancho at his very best; from the devilish dummy, which required enormous technical ability, to the calmness he showed to take his time before slotting the ball into the net.
There have been brief flickers of brilliance from Sancho since he arrived at the club, and it is clear that his struggles haven’t been due to a lack of effort on the pitch.
It will be easier said than done to find those problems, never mind rectify them, but Sancho has already proven exactly why he is worth sticking with.
