Manchester United will want to sign off for the World Cup with a win when they face high-flying Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
There are talks of academy graduate Alejandro Garnacho getting yet another chance to shine considering the performances he has put in recently.
The Argentine has already scored his first senior goal against Real Sociedad and became the youngest United player to register two assists in the same match which came against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.
Sancho’s struggles
But one player who has dropped below radar is Jadon Sancho. He had become the fourth-most expensive United player ever when had signed back in 2021.
There were high hopes from the former City graduate especially after setting the Bundesliga and Champions League alight regularly for Borussia Dortmund.
But it proved to be a difficult initial season and the managerial turmoil did not help matters. But Erik ten Hag’s appointment was supposed to fix all that.
Jadon Sancho’s timekeeping was an issue for England backroom staff before losing his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad and eventually missing out on the World Cup this week. [@mcgrathmike] #mufc
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) November 11, 2022
And initially it looked like the plan was working with Sancho enjoying a fine pre-season and started the season on fire with well-taken goals against Liverpool, Leicester City and Sheriff Tiraspol.
But since then, the 22-year-old has looked like a shadow of his former self, struggling to take on his man and looking indecisive with the ball at his feet.
Fans and experts have been left exasperated as Sancho frequently took the easy way out, passing back to his full-back instead of trying to beat his man.
After all, his explosive dribbling ability and finishing was what enticed the Red Devils in the first place. Back in Dortmund, Sancho had registered 50 goals and set up 64 others in 137 games.
But in the red of United, the winger has only managed a paltry seven goals and four assists in 52 games, not the kind of output United had in mind when they sanctioned a €90million deal for him.
Recently, he was snubbed by Gareth Southgate when he named his England squad for the World Cup and not many bothered to question his decision.
There have been murmurs of Sancho’s poor attitude while on Three Lions duty with the England coaches consistently pointing out his timekeeping issues which eventually led to him losing his place.
Attitude problems
And things seemed to have boiled over to United, with a recent tweet from Ross Harwood mentioning that attitude issues and not illness has been the cause of his recent absence from the first XI.
“Been hearing the issue with Sancho isn’t illness, but his attitude. Not in squad for Fulham game. Will go into the break having had no game time in recent fixtures.
“Down to the player to turn this around, ten Hag will not take poor attitude at anytime.”
Ten Hag is s stickler for discipline and has shown he means business when dropping Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad and not playing Garnacho earlier on in the season.
Hopefully, Sancho can regain his confidence and Ten Hag can sort out these problems behind-the-scenes. He is too gifted a footballer to just leave out.
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