Revealed: Sancho’s discipline issue that frustrated England

Robin Bairner

• 12 Nov 2022 10:47 GMT
• 3 min read

Jadon Sancho’s struggles at Manchester United have been brought into sharp focus in recent days due to his non-selection for England’s World Cup squad.

Much was expected of the 22-year-old winger when he returned to the Premier League for €85 million from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2021. He has failed to deliver, producing just eight goals and four assists across 52 appearances for the Red Devils.

This pales in comparison to the 16 goals and 20 assists he managed in just 38 outings for Dortmund in his final season with the club and hints at a major problem.

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Sancho's timekeeping issues

A report from the Daily Telegraph hints at an attitude problem for Sancho. It states that one of the reasons that he was not called for the World Cup squad was that his poor timekeeping infuriated Gareth Southgate’s backroom staff.

Such a lack of discipline will not go down well at Man Utd either. Manager Erik ten Hag is known to be an authoritarian and expects the highest standards from his players. If Sancho shows a similar lax attitude under the Dutchman, he is unlikely to be given much sympathy.

Ten Hag has previously done a strong job of keeping the disciplinary issues at the club private but has equally shown a willingness to be open about problems when he feels it will make a difference. Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, has been rebuked by the former Ajax head coach very publicly.

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Indeed, his handling of these situations has been extremely deft, showing no fear to drop even star names to the bench.

Sancho has not received this treatment to a significant degree yet. Ten Hag maintains faith in the winger up to a point, but the fact he has played only 90 minutes three times this season shows that there is only limited trust in him.

Nevertheless, if his professionalism was under question, there can be little doubt that he would swiftly find himself benched.

The emergence of Alejandro Garnacho is recent matches, meanwhile, will put additional pressure on Sancho, who must work hard over the next six weeks to ensure he still has a meaningful future at Man Utd.