Jadon Sancho’s revival has left ‘naive’ Erik ten Hag with egg on his face
It might just be a greater comeback than Lazarus.
Okay, he’s not quite been brought back to life by Jesus, but less than five months ago Jadon Sancho wasn’t even allowed to train with the Manchester United squad. Now he’s looking forward to playing in the biggest club game in world football.
Under normal circumstances, the prospect of having to return to England would fill Sancho with dread, given his broken relationship with Manchester United. But these are not normal circumstances.
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And on June 1, the 24-year-old will find himself in London for the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund. The England winger will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the showpiece event at Wembley.
The saying goes that you should ‘never go back’. But Sancho’s love affair with Dortmund appears to be a marriage made in heaven, because as loan moves go, the one he made back to the Bundesliga outfit from United in January appears to be one of the best in footballing history.
Do you think Manchester United should try to convince Jadon Sancho to stay at the Red Devils next season? Let us know in the comments section below.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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Dortmund rode to the rescue of Sancho and reached out to him in his darkest hours of need. And he’s repaid them in full, with a string of stunning performances to help the German outfit stun European football with a place in the greatest club game of all at Wembley.
In the two semi-finals against Paris Saint German, Sancho was so dazzling on the right wing he left the French outfit’s hapless left back Nuno Mendes nursing twisted blood.
Almost in the blink of an eye, Sancho has gone from a nightmare to the sort of fairytale even the greatest football fantasists couldn’t dream up. And it has all left United boss Erik ten Hag needed a mechanical digger to scrape all the egg that’s been left on his face.
One looking as red as those shirts his team wear. The blame game following the initial fall-out between Sancho and Ten Hag became a damaging one indeed.
(Image: Manchester United via Getty Imag)
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And who the finger should be pointed at remains to be seen. Ten Hag questioned Sancho’s attitude in training, while the winger responded by accusing the Dutchman of telling lies to make him a scapegoat for the team’s failings.
But the fact remains that Ten Hag should never have gone public with his concerns about the winger. It was naive – and broke the unwritten rule that exists between managers and players.
But Ten Hag doubled down to turn the bust-up into a monster. He demanded an apology from Sancho, and when it isn’t forthcoming banned him from training with the first team.
He couldn’t even have lunch with his team-mates. When the transfer window came around, Sancho couldn’t wait to throw himself out of it.
So off he went back to Dortmund, hell-bent on reviving his career and showing Ten Hag what he would be missing. And that’s what he’s now done, leaving Ten Hag to wonder if he could have handled the scenario differently.
Those who laugh last, laugh the loudest, and Ten Hag can hear Sancho chuckling all the way from Dortmund.
