Home » Jadon Sancho forced to retrain in new position

Jadon Sancho forced to retrain in new position

by Zoe Hodges
Jadon Sancho

United’s £73 million summer signing has been quite a talking point since he arrived but for all the wrong reasons.

Most recently, he’s been in the news after being dropped by England for their World Cup qualifiers against Albania and San Marino.

After joining from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, the right winger has appeared 13 times for United, completing a full 90 minutes just once in that time and has played out of his natural position, which he excelled in at Dortmund.

He is yet to score a goal or bag himself an assist.

The signing of Ronaldo goes some way to explaining his lack of game time as well as the excellent form that Mason Greenwood finds himself in.

With Rashford also returning from injury and finding himself in good form, the United attacking force is stacked, not that it seems to be helping the Reds at the moment.

The system Solskjaer is enforcing leaves no room for wingers and seems built around the likes of Ronaldo, but why work on signing a player for three years and then not give him the chance he deserves?

Building the squad around Ronaldo means Greenwood has been pushed out to the right.

When Sancho has had game time, he’s shown good link-up play with Ronaldo. In the game against Everton he followed Solskjaer’s instructions, running at players and laying the ball off nicely for Ronaldo to take a shot but he put it wide.

Similarly, Ronaldo put the ball on a plate for Sancho who unfortunately hit it straight at the keeper.

As The Athletic points out, it’s not just the late arrival of Ronaldo that upset the apple cart and changed Solskjaer’s plans for the youngster, his physical fitness was not the best upon his arrival.

Though it was played down to the media, Sancho arrived with an ear infection that affected him on the training pitch. Following this he picked up a calf injury that also left him sidelined.

Furthermore, it is widely noted that the pace of the Premier League is somewhat different to the Bundesliga and it may be that he needs this time to adjust.

Sources suggest that Sancho sat wide-eyed in the dressing room following the game against Newcastle United. When asked by a team mate what was wrong he reportedly replied that the pace of the game was something to behold. His teammates told him to “get used to it.”

He apparently shows promise at Carrington though and is said to be aware of his issues and is working on the adjustments needed to make an impact on the Premier League.

There was a spark to his performances in games against Villarreal, Atalanta and City. His energy alone created chances for United, he’s finding space and not being selfish with the ball – he could have had a number of assists if it wasn’t for the last man not taking his chances.

During the City game, which he entered at the halfway mark, Sancho showed defensive diligence as he tracked back with intensity and showed calm and control as he dribbled the ball out of the danger zone.

Coaches have apparently tried Sancho as a right wing back in training sessions and he has shown promise.

With Wan-Bissaka’s place in the team thrown into question in recent weeks, could Sancho sieze this opportunity?

Sancho’s plight seems to be, as the Athletic notes, ‘collateral damage’ of United’s wider issues, but at 21 years of age he has the ability to adapt and the time to grow with the team and adapt to the league.

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