Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag had a falling out with plenty of big-name stars during his two and-a-half years in charge and more often than not, he got his way.
The Dutchman fell out with Jadon Sancho for his poor training displays and indiscipline. And the winger did not take his manager’s words in the right spirit and accused him of scapegoating him and favouritism.
He was subsequently banished and the player agreed a loan exit in January and enjoyed a fine spell with Borussia Dortmund but the German giants did not have the funds to acquire his signature permanently.
And thus, the England international returned to Manchester and even played in pre-season before joining rivals Chelsea on loan in the summer.
Sancho-EtH tiff
And after a bright start there, the 24-year-old’s minutes dramatically reduced after a few below-par performances with Enzo Maresca citing illness as a cause for the absence.
However, former Premier League midfielder Jamie O’Hara feels that Sancho’s poor discipline off the pitch has once again caught on and is hampering his form at Stamford Bridge.
“Jadon Sancho’s been given an opportunity at Chelsea to prove people wrong, but it hasn’t happened yet,” O’Hara was quoted as saying by Express.
“Manchester United spent a lot of money on him, and it didn’t work out, so he’s gone to Chelsea and showed signs of brilliance and confidence at the start, but he seems to have fallen back into his old ways since then.”
Sancho was often accused of late timekeeping as a result of oversleeping after playing games all night. Fans have spotted him playing on social media as well.
Chelsea troubles
O’Hara also felt that the Blues have far better wingers than the former Man City academy graduate at their disposal and thus, Maresca is right to overlook him.
“I think the problem with Sancho at Chelsea is that there are better players than him in that squad – Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke are more influential than him.
“He needs to try and produce moments when he gets the chance to impress, or he’ll stay where he is in the pecking order. It’s always going to be difficult when there’s a big group of attacking players in the same squad, but I think Enzo Maresca has worked out that Sancho isn’t as good as a lot of them.”
Chelsea are likely to have to buy him at the end of his loan spell. Judging from Sancho’s difficulties in London, United were certainly right to dodge the bullet even if it was quite a costly mistake.
Feature image Richard Heathcote via Getty Images
Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
