Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood has urged Jadon Sancho to play with freedom and rediscover his Borussia Dortmund form. Manchester United shelled out £73million to lure the highly-coveted winger to the Premier League last summer.
A big-money move came on the back of a successful Euro 2020 campaign with England and a fruitful spell in Germany, where he emerged as one of Europe’s top prospects. Elite clubs across the continent were monitoring Sancho before United landed their man.
However, the 22-year-old has struggled to hit the heights expected of him at Old Trafford. While supporters have seen glimpses of Sancho’s talent, just five goals and four assists in 39 top-flight appearances leaves plenty of room for improvement.
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Erik ten Hag hooked the winger before the hour mark in the Red Devils’ 1-1 draw with Chelsea a week ago. Sky Sports pundit Sherwood has ordered Sancho to take the shackles off to help rekindle the confidence which made him one of England’s brightest talents.
“I don’t think he's in his (Erin ten Hag’s) thinking but he needs to improve dramatically to get into his side,” he said. “I'm not sure he’s his first choice - Antony will be his first choice. It looks like he plays too safe for me. Why doesn’t he go by anyone anymore?
“I want to see him getting at people, taking it right to heart and having a go, trying to make the difference. A lot of players can get the ball, play it safe and just balance up off the left-hand side.
“Get at them… commit defenders… go past players and draw penalties. That's what I want to see him doing - that’s what he was doing for Dortmund. That's why he was bought by Man United. At the moment, his confidence is low and he's just going to get worse and worse. He needs to take a reality check.
“Individually, sometimes you need to reset he's got to find out why they brought him to the football club. He was dropping people on their backsides, going past them and dropping his shoulder. He was scoring goals. At the moment it looks like he's playing too safe because he's too worried about giving the ball away.”
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