Manchester United will want to bid farewell to the World Cup with a win when they take on high-flying Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
There is talk that academy graduate Alejandro Garnacho will get another chance to shine considering the performances he has put in recently.
The Argentine has already scored his first senior goal against Real Sociedad and became the youngest United player to record two assists in the same game against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.
Sancho’s fights
But one player who has gone unnoticed is Jadon Sancho. He had become the fourth most expensive United player in history when he had signed in 2021.
Hopes were high for the former City graduate, especially after regularly lighting up the Bundesliga and Champions League for Borussia Dortmund.
But it turned out to be a rough opening season, and managerial turmoil didn’t help matters. But the appointment of Erik ten Hag was supposed to fix all that.
Jadon Sancho’s timing was a problem for England’s backroom staff before he lost his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad and ultimately missed the World Cup this week. [@mcgrathmike] #mufc
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) November 11, 2022
And initially it looked like the plan was working with Sancho enjoying a strong pre-season and started the season on fire with well-received goals against Liverpool, Leicester City and Sheriff Tiraspol.
But since then, the 22-year-old has looked like a shadow of his former self, struggling to meet his man and looking indecisive with the ball at his feet.
Fans and pundits alike were exasperated as Sancho frequently took the easy way out, swinging back to his side rather than trying to beat his man.
After all, his explosive dribbling and finishing ability was what attracted the Red Devils in the first place. Back in Dortmund, Sancho had registered 50 goals and assisted another 64 in 137 games.
But in United’s red, the winger has only managed seven goals and four assists in 52 games – not the kind of result United had in mind when they sanctioned a €90m deal for him.
He was recently snubbed by Gareth Southgate when he named his England squad for the World Cup and not many bothered to question his decision.
There have been rumors of Sancho’s poor attitude while on duty at the Three Lions with England managers constantly pointing out his timing problems which eventually led to him losing his place.
attitude problems
And things seemed to have boiled over for United, with a recent tweet from Ross Harwood mentioning that attitude problems and not illness were the cause of his recent absence from the first XI.
“I heard that the problem with Sancho is not the illness, but his attitude. He is not in the squad for the Fulham game. He will go into the break without having had playing time in the last few games.
“Depending on the player to change this, ten Hag will not take a bad attitude at any time.”
Ten Hag is a fan of discipline and has shown he means business by removing Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad and not playing with Garnacho at the start of the season.
Hopefully Sancho can regain his trust and Ten Hag can solve these problems behind the scenes. He is too talented a footballer to be left out.
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