Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho has hit back at his manager Erik ten Hag following the gaffer’s criticism of the Englishman after the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Red Devils were outclassed by the Gunners in a 3-1 thriller that saw Mikel Arteta’s men come back from a goal down to secure all three points late in the second half.
Marcus Rashford netted United’s opener which was immediately cancelled out by Martin Ødegaard (28′) a minute later before Declan Rice (90+6′) and Gabriel Jesus (90+11′) scored two late goals to secure all three points from the hosts.
However, Sancho who started in United’s comeback 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest last week was surprisingly missing from Ten Hag’s lineup at the Emirates, prompting questions from journalists after the game.
Reacting, the Dutchman said, “Jadon was [absent] on his performance on the training. We didn’t select him. You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices on the frontline, so for this game, he wasn’t selected.”
Moments after the statement, Sancho released an official statement on his social media, debunking his manager’s claims.
According to the Englishman, he[Sancho] has been made a ‘scapegoat’ and believes that the reason he was dropped was not because of his performance during training.
“Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week. I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!
“All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what,” Sancho said.
Recall that Ten Hag has a somewhat similar issue with Cristiano Ronaldo last season before the Portuguese’ contract was terminated by the club after an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the club nor the Dutchman have responded to the statement released by Sancho who has found it difficult to replicate the form that saw United cough out £73million to Borussia Dortmund two seasons ago.
The 23-year-old who has struggled with fitness and confidence was sent to Holland by United manager Erik ten Hag in November 2022 amid concerns over his physical and mental readiness to play for United.
