Erik ten Hag’s handling of Jadon Sancho at Manchester United led to problems in the dressing room, according to a new report.
Ten Hag famously exiled Sancho after a public spat when the manager accused the player of not training hard. Sancho took to social media to accuse Ten Hag of lying and refused to apologise. He was consigned to train with the academy before being loaned to Borussia Dortmund.
The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell claims it was not just this isolated incident that led to the fractured relationship.
Ten Hag “felt Sancho was an incredible player but that his attitude did not correspond to a winning culture.”
“His patience had been stretched months earlier after his second game in charge, away to Brentford, when Sancho told him United had bought the wrong player because his preference was to play on the left, rather than the right.”
“This guided Ten Hag’s decision to go for a player in that position in the remaining days of the transfer market — ultimately, Antony.”
After trying to exercise tolerance in his first season at Old Trafford, Whitwell says it was near the start of 2023/24 that “when Sancho seemed to ignore assistant Mitchell van der Gaag in a session, Ten Hag felt he crossed a line, so he stepped in.”
Unfortunately for Ten Hag, this did not go down well in the dressing room, with some players believing “the situation could have been handled differently.”
Ten Hag’s “matter-of-fact” manner created “fractures” but “consistent injuries meant Ten Hag was unable to use rotation as a means of rewarding those who subscribed to his doctrine and reprimanding those who did not.”
While Whitwell does not name names, rumours at the time suggested Marcus Rashford was one of the players who did not appreciate the way his friend had been treated.
Indeed, some have gone so far as to question whether Rashford’s horrific dip in form and attitude in 2023/24 was sparked by the Sancho debacle.
It was reported recently that Sancho would be sold by United whether or not Ten Hag kept his job. Now that he has done so, it seems certain that the England man will be leaving the club this summer.
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