Manchester United star Jadon Sancho has not quite managed to hit the heights expected of him at Old Trafford - but Erik ten Hag’s new role for the forward might finally have unlocked his true potential.
The 22-year-old has so far not found the glittering form that convinced the Red Devils to pay Borussia Dortmund £73m for his services under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Since then, Sancho has made 57 appearances for the club, scoring just ten goals.
One of those strikes did come on his most recent outing, however, as he clambered off the bench to round-off an excellent team move in the 3-0 cruise against Leicester. The goal also saw Sancho level the goal record that he put together throughout the entirety of his debut season as a Red Devil.
Whilst United supporters will be hopeful of Sancho finally putting his stamp on the Red Devils’ side alongside an in-form Marcus Rashford, the former was given a slightly different role by Ten Hag.
After starting on the bench, Sancho was introduced in more of a central role with Rashford - who scored twice against Leicester - stationed on the left and Bruno Fernandes slightly more on the right flank with Wout Weghorst leading the line. It was a slightly different demand laid down to the 23-time England international, having played predominantly as a wide player during his time with Dortmund and United.
Sancho replaced Alejandro Garnacho at the break at Old Trafford - triggering the shuffling of the United forward line. Explaining his decision, Ten Hag said: "Second half, we play like the principles and the rules of the game from us.
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"So we transferred the game plan and then you see we are dictating the game. And with Jadon on the pitch, there was a lot of space in the midfield area to bring him there to get players playing between the lines, get more dynamics, it worked really well, him and Bruno on that side.
"And I think with Wout up front we get better pressing. That's due to the fact we are more controlling, dominating, dictating the game, finishing the game and in the end, is a deserved win. But the meaning of the first goal is important."
Ten Hag had actually made the change once before with Sancho deployed in the role during a brief cameo against Nottingham Forst in the Carabao Cup and the Dutchman now seems even more convinced. His decision to persevere looked inspired. The Red Devils looked far more coherent and threatening after the half-time interval following a drab opening period.
Away from his goal, Sancho was certainly more threatening when taking a look at the underlying statistics. According to Opta via FBRef, the 22-year-old had three shots with one on target against Leicester which is a huge increase on his 0.8 shots per game in the Premier League this season.
Meanwhile, he also produced three key passes for his teammates versus the Foxes. That is again a marked improvement on his displays thus far this season with previously just 1.9 per game in league play on average.
Whilst it might be slightly too early to suggest whether Sancho’s central positioning is a long-term solution for United for the remainder of the campaign, Red Devils’ icon Gary Neville already likes what he sees. Speaking on commentary during the win against Leicester, he said: “It’s an interesting position, seeing Sancho at that number 10 in this second half.
“You would think of Rashford’s best position being on the left or centre forward, neither of them like it on the right. It might be a solution to get them both in.
“Erik ten Hag, we were surprised weren’t we that he moved Rashford out of a central position and put him in there, but it’s working. “The manager’s seen something in training that he really likes and we’re now seeing it.”
Following his contributions against Leicester, Sancho will certainly be hoping to continue playing a key role in the Red Devils’ side in a week that could define their season. Ten Hag’s men at first take on Barcelona in their Europa League playoff decider at Old Trafford on Thursday before they tackle Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final at the weekend.
Amid persistent fitness issues this season, it remains to be seen whether Sancho is handed just a second start since October over the next few days, but it appears highly likely that he will continue to play in his new role discovered by Ten Hag either way.
