“There were always problems with him”
Ten Hag judges United over Jadon Sancho from a billion-dollar grave
January 15, 2024, 9:38 a.m
On Saturday, Jadon Sancho only needed 22 minutes to score his 115th point for BVB. It is his first since the summer of 2021. While Dortmund wins and hopes, Erik ten Hag, the Manchester United coach, throws a little dirt on his ex-player.
The shadow of Erik ten Hag still follows the short-term returnee Jadon Sancho. When the 23-year-old Englishman rose from his bench this Saturday to warm up like the rest of the team shortly after half-time, the outside microphones at Darmstadt’s Böllenfalltor captured the provocations of a spectator. “Erik ten Hag wants to talk to you, you lazy bastard,” was heard and Sancho was seen running on thickly masked. It didn’t seem to bother him much.
A little later, Sancho replaced his compatriot Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, became dangerous with the first touch of the ball, then initiated a counterattack by the hosts when they lost the ball and got the ball back deep in their own half. The offensive player, who was on loan from Manchester United for the rest of the season from Borussia Dortmund, wanted more, as became clear 22 minutes after his substitution. For the eleventh time in total, Sancho set up a goal for Marco Reus in the 77th minute. It was the goal to make it 2-0. This finally brought BVB, who were currently the weakest team in the league, towards the three sorely needed points.
“Since I’ve been back, I’ve felt at home,” said Sancho in front of the Bundesliga cameras and coach Edin Terzic was happy. Sancho, he said, was “one of those players in the world who plays football better when they smile.” The Englishman, who moved to Manchester United for 85 million euros in the summer of 2021, lost this smile at Old Trafford. After two rather average years, he fell out with coach ten Hag last summer and has been out of action since August 2023.
United burned over a billion euros
When the Dutch coach of Manchester United was asked about Sancho before the Red Devils’ 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, he asked again. “After he signed here – a year before I came here – there were problems. There were problems the whole time,” said ten Hag, becoming more specific than in the press conference before the game. There he wished Sancho good luck for his time in Dortmund and a little later spoke generally about the great burden of being a Manchester United player.
The former series champion of the English Premier League has not found himself since the departure of the great club legend Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2013. For over a decade now, the heavyweight has been searching for the happiness of bygone times. But David Moyes, Ryan Giggs, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Michael Carrick, Ralf Rangnick and now Erik ten Hag all failed to bring the Premier League trophy back to Old Trafford.
The list of purchases worth millions is as long as it is illustrious. Paul Pogba, Antony, Harry Maguire, Romelu Lukaku, Ángel Di María, Rasmus Hojlund, Casemiro, Mason Mount, Anthony Martial, Fred, Lisandro Martínez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and André Onana as well as Sancho and the former favorite Cristiano Ronaldo burned without significant equivalent of over one billion euros in transfer funds. Players, it is said, become worse the moment they sign a contract with Manchester United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will transform United
“I’ve always said it,” ten Hag now explained, “there’s such a huge difference when you play for Manchester United. It’s so much harder to show your performance at Manchester United than at another club. You have to have a very strong character to be able to cope with the pressure. And the more expensive you are, the higher the expectations and the more stable you have to be.” Nevertheless, Manchester United is of course the best club to play for. You just have to be ready for it. “I don’t want to name any other club,” explained ten Hag, “but it’s just so much easier in many other clubs.”
After the 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, it is still unclear how long ten Hag, who did not address the failed coaches, can motivate the players to achieve top performance. The time of the Glazer dynasty at Old Trafford will soon come to an end. The club’s US owners will sell 25 percent of the club’s shares to English billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the coming weeks. He transfers more than 1.4 billion euros for the shares to the owner family, who are unpopular with fans. Ratcliffe, the boss of chemical giant Ineos, said in December that he had “found an agreement with the board of Manchester United that transfers responsibility for managing the football business to us.” As soon as the Premier League has approved the deal, the Manchester-area entrepreneur will get started.
On Sunday he sat next to Sir Alex Ferguson in the stands and saw Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay miss the win from point-blank range in stoppage time. It is by no means out of the question that United will not only miss out on promotion to the premier class but also to European football at the end of the season. With 32 points they are currently seventh in the Premier League table. They are well behind the escaped top five teams Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Tottenham. And have to fight with hungry clubs like West Ham, Chelsea, Newcastle United or Brighton to qualify for the Europa League or Conference League.
“Don’t expect miracles”
Jadon Sancho has nothing to do with it for the time being. The Englishman who was driven out of court by ten Hag will probably talk less to the Dutchman in the coming weeks. He’s come home for a brief moment and will wonder why he ever left this place in the first place. The answer to this can be found in the Dortmund business concept. This is not designed to retain rising stars. But it is a place where fallen heroes are welcomed with open arms and where they at least get some time.
“We shouldn’t expect miracles, he has no rhythm and has had little team training,” said Marco Reus after the game: “Every minute helps, scorer points give self-confidence. Then he can become very important.” He definitely wasn’t that at United. But he has to be that at Borussia Dortmund. The few minutes he was on the pitch in Darmstadt showed how much BVB missed a player like Sancho. Like Manchester United, BVB is also worried about the premier class. After the 3-0 win at SV Darmstadt, the chances have at least not gotten any smaller.