Sancho and Ten Hag ‘direct contact’ claim made as Ferdinand reveals Man Utd boss’ masterplan
Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho “is expected to have direct contact” with Erik ten Hag soon, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Sancho came off the bench in the Red Devils’ first three matches of the new Premier League season but he was left out of the squad completely for their 3-1 loss to Arsenal last weekend.
Man Utd boss Ten Hag revealed that it was Sancho’s poor performance in training that convinced him to drop the England international from his squad.
Ten Hag explained his decision to reporters after the defeat to the Gunners: “Jadon, on his performances in training we did not select him.
“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.”
But Sancho couldn’t help but respond in a statement on social media, it read: “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week.
“I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, l’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.”
There has been speculation that Sancho is currently refusing to meet up with Ten Hag and resolve the situation – but Romano insists he is expecting “direct contact” between the Man Utd pair soon.
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Despite rumours to the contrary, I’m not aware of any refusal on Jadon Sancho’s part to meet up with Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
“I’m told the player is expected to have direct contact with Ten Hag and the club’s coaching staff soon to discuss his situation, so we’ll wait for that moment and we will see where they go from there. But the situation remains the same.”
Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand thinks Ten Hag was hoping for a “reaction” from Sancho when he publicly called him out last weekend.
When asked how he felt about Ten Hag’s public comments on Sancho, Ferdinand said on TNT Sports: “The biggest thing for me is understanding why he said that. What I can draw from it is that he gave him a couple months off last season, for personal reasons, to get himself fit.
“He’s given him minutes, I think he started around 20 games last season, and he’s working out a way how he can trigger something from Jadon to get a positive reaction on the pitch.
“He’s tried different ways and I think this is him trying to get a reaction out of his player. All managers do it differently.
“I was surprised [by Sancho’s statement in response]. You don’t normally see players respond through statements publicly like that at all.
“What’s the way back for Sancho? There’s going to have to be a conversation between the manager and player.
“They’ve both spoken publicly, and if one of them doesn’t like it or not, they’ve both done it. And now it’s about what’s the best thing for Manchester United.
“They need to decide that and have an open and honest conversation around a table and get through it.
“I think Ten Hag wants to get Sancho performing for Manchester United. He’ll hope the reaction comes from that statement, and so do I.
“Ten Hag has been ruthless in his decision-making before. You look at the different scenarios he’s faced such as Marcus Rashford being late to a meeting.
“He called it out, made him a substitute and got a reaction. The Cristiano Ronaldo situation, he dealt with it, and the team got to where he wanted them to.
“He achieved that. He’s dealt with these big situations head-on and hopefully there is a positive outcome from this.”
