Erik Ten Hag insists it’s his responsibility to enforce strong discipline and change the culture at Manchester United following the move to banish Jadon Sancho from first-time training.
Sancho is made to train on his own at the academy facilities at Carrington after he accused Hag of lying about the reasons behind his absence at Arsenal a fortnight ago and claiming to be a scapegoat.
Erik Ten Hag insists it’s his responsibility to enforce strict discipline at Manchester United
Reportedly, Erik Ten Hag is furious at the player and demands an apology. However, Sancho has refused to say sorry.
He was reluctant to speak about Sancho’s issue in the Press Conference, especially before their upcoming encounter on Saturday against Brighton. He claimed that one of the reasons he has arrived at Old Trafford is to improve the discipline in the team.
Last season, he experienced something similar with Cristiano Ronaldo. Speaking of the discipline issue, Erik Ten Hag said,
“Strict lines is what the club asked me because there was no good culture before I entered last season.”
He further added,
“So to set standards, this is what I did, and it is my job to control the standards. Of course, it is never someone only makes one mistake, it is the whole process before you come to a certain outcome about strict lines. If staff or player or whoever, there is a structure to cross lines, so you have to be strong.”
Manchester United released a statement on Thursday regarding Sancho’s training alone due to a ‘squad discipline issue.’ Following the statement, Ten Hag made the above statements.
The decision to omit Sancho from first XI training came when he took to his social media to share a post that claimed Ten Hag’s critical comments about his training performance were ‘completely untrue.’
Upon asked why Sancho was omitted from the team in the clash against Arsenal, Erik Ten Hag said,
“Jadon, on his performances in training, we did not select him. “
A furious Sancho shared on his socials,
“Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people to say things that are completely untrue. I have conducted myself in training very well this week.
I believe there are no other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into; I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time, which isn’t fair!
All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff; I play with fantastic players and am grateful to do so, which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge, no matter what!
Brazil winger Antony misses out, too, as he is on paid leave as he fights assault allegations by three women. He has denied committing any such crime. Erik ten Hag said he has no idea about when Antony will be back and that he’s disappointed, but he is okay.
