Jadon Sancho ’s poor performances must be annoying three of his Manchester United teammates, according to Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Sancho was substituted 52 minutes into United’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Sunday following an ineffectual performance on the left wing. After Jorginho’s penalty, following a foul by Scott McTominay on Armando Broja, United earned a point thanks to Casemiro’s 94th-minute header.
United boss Erik ten Hag felt a draw was a fair result at Stamford Bridge and was full of praise for Casemiro, who capped a fantastic performance in midfield with a dramatic late equaliser. But he would have been less pleased with Sancho, who was quiet during the match and was sacrificed for Fred as Ten Hag changed formation.
Sancho has three goals and one assist in 14 appearances across the Premier League and Europa League this season. And Agbonlahor believes that some of his teammates – Luke Shaw, Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Elanga in particular – might be becoming frustrated with his negative attitude.
“I just want to speak about Sancho because when I watch Man United I look at Antony, I look at [Marcus] Rashford, I look at [Bruno] Fernandes and they look like they want to take a player on and want to do something and take responsibility in the attacking third,” he said on talkSPORT.
“Sancho, he gets the ball and passes it backwards. If I was Luke Shaw I’d say ‘stop passing it back to me, I’m giving you the ball so take someone on’. At Dortmund he was doing it every week. His confidence is that low, does he feel like he doesn’t have the speed or the trickery to get past someone?
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“He’s being brought off after 52 minutes for Fred. Fred was unlucky not to start because he did very well last game but it just shows that they’ve had to play Fernandes up front for the last 35 minutes, Rashford went to the left and Antony stayed on the right because Sancho can’t perform.
“How many times do you have to play him? If you’re Ronaldo you’re probably thinking ‘how many chances is this guy going to get?’ Elanga, how many times is Sancho going to get the chance to play for Manchester United because he’s not performing and he’s a million miles away from a chance to play at the World Cup.”
Sancho joined United last summer in a £71million transfer from Borussia Dortmund. So far he has contributed just eight goals and five assists in 52 appearances for the club – compared with 50 goals and 64 assists in 137 games for the German club.
He may face competition for his place in the side when United play Sheriff FC in the Europa League on Thursday before another home game against West Ham next weekend. Elanga came off the bench at Stamford Bridge, while Ronaldo should return to the squad after being left out against Chelsea as punishment for his behaviour in the win over Tottenham.
