It was around this time last year that the very first questions began to be asked about Jadon Sancho. Trailed closely by Manchester United for the best part of three years, the subject of two summer-long transfer sagas, and undoubtedly one of the most exciting young players in European football, Sancho was expected to slot in and complete an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer attack that had long been a work in progress. But even after all that, he didn’t really play.
Not as much as he was supposed to, at least. Sancho started just seven of Solskjaer’s 17 games in charge at the start of last season, including the diabolical 4-1 defeat at Watford that ultimately sealed his manager’s fate. That was Sancho’s first start for more than a month, having lost his place after the equally bad 4-2 defeat away to Leicester City. His only 90 minutes under Solskjaer came in the EFL Cup third round.
A year on, a lack of opportunities is no longer the problem. Sancho started all of Ten Hag’s first six games in charge and nine of his first 10. Those nine starts produced three goals and prior to the September international break, there was at least some surprise that this quietly promising start under a new manager had not resulted in an international recall as part of an expanded 28-man England squad.
Sancho has started two of the three games since, in a derby where no United player performed and away to Omonia Nicosia last week. Yet he was replaced at half-time of that 3-2 win in the Cypriot capital with United a goal down. Omonia’s breakthrough had arrived, in part, from his decision to pass back to Tyrell Malacia after the breakdown of a United corner. Malacia was also substituted at the break, but Ten Hag said neither change was down to the goal.
“[That] was not what I was unhappy with. It was the movement with our ball, the width on the left side, for me, was no good first half. The movement from behind the defending line,” Ten Hag insisted. Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford were the replacements. “I hoped with Luke and Marcus, we could get more effect from that and in my opinion that happened.” Shaw now appears to have won his place back from Malacia, having started in Sunday’s 2-1 win at Everton.
Sancho, meanwhile, appears to have lost his spot after dropping out of Ten Hag’s line-up at Goodison Park altogether. Even when Anthony Martial was forced off with an injury in the first half, he was overlooked for the otherwise out-of-favour Cristiano Ronaldo. A year after being relegated to United’s bench, Sancho found himself back there. The difference this time is that he has been given a chance and has arguably failed to take it.
If dropping a winger with three goals in nine starts feels a little harsh, a closer look at Sancho’s performances helps to justify Ten Hag’s decision. The 22-year-old has never been a prolific shooter but three goals in all competitions have come from just seven shots. Staggeringly, Sancho’s average of 0.74 shots per 90 minutes is among the bottom 1 per cent of Premier League players in his position this season.
This lack of a consistent goal threat has not been compensated by consistent creativity, either. Sancho’s 0.08 expected assists per 90 minutes in all competitions is lower than that of Fred, Diogo Dalot and even Ronaldo. It is all a far cry from his time at Borussia Dortmund when a teenager who honed his skills in the cages of Camberwell was hitting double digits in goals and assists in back-to-back campaigns.
It is not just the raw output, though. Other aspects of his game have dropped off too at Old Trafford. During his days in the Bundesliga, Sancho would consistently beat three or four players on the dribble every 90 minutes. That number fell to 2.37 last season and sits at a league-average 1.67 this term. It all fits with the familiar image of Sancho in a United shirt, blocked off by an opposing full-back, being forced to pass backwards or sideways rather than doing anything penetrative.
That was the crux of Ten Hag’s comments in Nicosia last week - that lack of anything happening “behind the defending line” on United’s left flank - and it was echoed by Paul Scholes. “He was right about the wingers being static. Sancho never really runs in behind,” the former United midfielder said. “He needs a fast left-back really or a centre-forward to link up with and he hasn’t really got that at the moment.”
As Scholes suggests, it may be that minutes are not all that Sancho needs in order to showcase his undoubted talent. His abilities, at the moment, feel more in tune with a more adventurous full-back than Malacia and a more intricate centre-forward than any of United’s current options. He would not be the first player United have signed in recent years at great expense but without a coherent idea of how they fit with the rest of the squad.
Ten Hag believes in his ability, at least. Before being dropped at Goodison Park, Dalot and Christian Eriksen were the only outfielders to start more times than Sancho this season. “I think he can [be a prolific goalscorer],” Ten Hag said after his winner away to Leicester last month. “With his potential, there’s much more room for improvement. He can be even more important.”
That “importance” Ten Hag speaks of has taken a hit over the past week. It is up to Sancho – perhaps starting this evening, in the return game against Omonia at Old Trafford – to prove it is just a temporary one.
