Elite sport moulds the quirkiest of characters. Strange people in the head. That’s partly how they make the grade. They are built different from those who falter.
The professional footballer needs to be selfish. A workaholic too.
They also have to be handled with care. Everything in their lives is trained towards performance. They need their sleep. They need to unwind in a private setting.
By 16 years old, Jadon Sancho showed all the traits needed to reach the pinnacle of the game. It was also obvious that he needed to be nurtured in a specific way.
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Alex Ferguson’s managerial mantra was that nobody was more important at Manchester United than him. If the manager’s authority is questioned, and the reaction is not swift, then he or she has no chance to succeed.
Go ask Jaap Stam, Roy Keane, David Beckham.
These are the stories that entered the public domain. How many times did Ryan Giggs or Eric Cantona go far beyond the line of acceptable behaviour, on or off the pitch, that we never heard about? We have seen Fergie stand beside Keane after some undefendable red cards. He supported Cantona despite the Kung Fu kick.
What can be kept in-house, should be.
After successfully removing Cristiano Ronaldo from the club last November, Erik Ten Hag earned a level of control at Man United not seen since Ferguson was in charge.
Then he went and ruined it by allowing a spat with Sancho to spill into the media. Or social media, via the player’s tweets.
Plenty has been written about Sancho but Ten Hag has effectively labelled him as a lazy footballer. The tag of being “unprofessional” will follow him around. It could reduce his value and earning potential.
This is high-stakes poker. When Ten Hag would have been advised to check or fold, and wait for a bigger pot or better hand, he decided to show everyone his style of management.
United’s results tell us precisely how well the former Ajax coach is doing at Old Trafford. Casemiro’s late goals against Bayern Munich on Wednesday glossed over a comprehensive victory for the Germans.
Be honest, when Harry Kane’s penalty made it 3-1, did any United fans expect anything other than a 4-1 or 5-1 pounding?
The club lies 13th in the Premier League after five matches, with Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Brighton already exposing their glaring defensive fragility at home.
Problems at the club are lengthy, from disciplinary issues to ownership bumbling the sale to a nation state or a British billionaire. Now, Ten Hag has allowed the Sancho story to grow legs just as his squad stumble into Turf Moor and a potential landmine against winless Burnley.
Anoraks like me, who keep tabs on rising English talent, saw Sancho on the Manchester City under-18s when he was coached by Lee Carsley. All the ingredients were visible for him to become a superstar, or a “global brand” as the modern player is told to see themselves by agents.
But there were red flags at City. Now 23, as a teenager he would showboat, preferring to embarrass the fullback rather than moving past him with ease.
There were other stories. Reportedly, in 2017 Sancho wanted assurances over his playing time in the City team under Pep Guardiola. On “several occasions,” according to The Daily Telegraph, he missed training and could not be reached by City’s coaching staff.
Again, that sort of stuff follows a player around.
But Sancho came again, with a smart move to Borussia Dortmund, laying the path for Jude Bellingham by scoring 38 goals in 104 Budesliga appearances. Add 64 assists and it was no surprise when Premier League clubs came calling.
Sancho has been a complete failure since returning to Manchester. Clearly, he is a special talent who possesses a personality that needs particular attention. A Google search would have explained this to the club’s power brokers before they shelled out £73 million. A few phone calls to former coaches would have offered advice on how to coax performances out of him.
Instead, Ten Hag decided to publicly humiliate an England international.
The modern manager is similar to the old-school gaffer in many ways. The route to survival, never mind trophies, comes via their innate ability to manage difficult personalities. Sancho will win you matches where Scott McTominay might run all day for you. Sancho needs to be minded more than McTominay. He is a valuable asset. Massive ego, possibly, but that comes with the territory.
Ten Hag’s time at United could come down to how he has handled this situation. The “direct Dutch” excuses won’t cut it.
Players have seen how Ronaldo was discarded and now Sancho is the problem. Eventually, especially if results continue to reflect how much money has been poorly spent to build this team, the common denominator will be the manager’s communication skills.
I am sure that Sancho wants to be the alpha dog at Man United and for England. He wants to be considered the best player in the world. His talent only points in that direction. Of course, it has not happened for him in recent seasons, but when a manager criticises you so publicly your confidence can shatter.
I’m sure this was a last resort by Ten Hag. I’m sure Sancho was given this message face-to-face. I’m also positive that the manager has messed up.
Ten Hag overplayed his hand. The manager is the most important person at United but three straight defeats to Arsenal, Brighton and Bayern also point in one direction.
The club has been stuck in a holding pattern since they turned to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the trigger-happy sackings of Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
To cuts ties with Ten Hag before Christmas would, again, reveal the incompetence of the ownership and the management at Manchester United. Jadon Sancho is not the problem.
