by Erik ten Hag has aimed a very small dig at Jadon Sancho asking him to put Manchester United players before their own desires.
Sancho, who said he feels a “scapegoat” at United, launched his own jibe at Ten Hag this week when he said he felt “at home” back in Dortmund and was pictured kissing the club crest after the deal loan agreement to the end. of the season.
Manchester United’s £73million man fell out with the manager after being accused of lying back in September, when Ten Hag said Sancho was not performing well enough in training to be selected.
Sancho could find a way back into the account at United if he apologizes and in response to a question about the importance of discipline, Ten Hag said his hard line is to deal with players who are not willing to swallow their pride.
“It’s not about control,” he said. “It’s about normal behaviour. That is what you can expect from a top professional.
“If you want to perform [as a club] you need hungry players. You need players with personalities and hunger to fight for the badge and fight for the club. And they must do this in a team.
“We have to understand and admit that we have to do it together. We have to be on the same page, in the same boat. We have to perform together.”
Sancho’s rift followed a row with Cristiano Ronaldo, whose second spell at the club ended last season after criticizing the manager and the club’s hierarchy in a television interview.
The Sancho and Ronaldo episode was part of a tumultuous 18 months at the helm of Ten Hag, which saw Harry Maguire stripped of the captaincy and handed over to Bruno Fernandes. Ten Hag also said domestic assault allegations – which the player denies – had affected Antony’s £85 flop form – while the Mason Greenwood saga had also caused tension at the club.
All those off-pitch problems have coincided with Ten Hag presiding over United’s worst first half of a Premier League season – they have lost nine of their opening 20 League games and 14 in all competitions.
He argues that the main reason for a string of inconsistent and underwhelming displays is a glut of long-term injuries to key players Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Luke Shaw, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount and Maguire. Kobbie Mainoo, Victor Lindelof and Tyrell Malacia are also out.
Ten Hag pointed out that homegrown talents Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho – both still teenagers – need time to develop, as does £72million striker Rasmus Hojlund, 20, who has only managed one league goal. he has so far.
But with many of the players already injured or on their way back to action, it remains hopeful that United will improve in the second half of the season, starting on Sunday at Old Trafford against Tottenham in front of Sir Jim Ratcliffe for the First time. .
“I’m managing a project here,” said Ten Hag. “I know when you get setbacks like the injuries we’ve had, no team can handle that many injuries and you get out of sorts.
“What you want is a stable team so it doesn’t matter if you have to swap a player or two from the previous game but not as many changes as we have had to make in the last year.
“We also made some choices in the summer for the future. We brought in young talent but that talent needs time. Now you see the progress of Garnacho and Mainoo and, for example, Hojlund. He needs time but we know we don’t have time.
“We know we have to perform and we want to do it on short notice, as quickly as possible.”
The problems did not dampen the hunger or enthusiasm of the former Ajax manager to build on a promising first season, in which United finished third and reached both domestic cup finals, winning the Carabao Cup.
He said: “I knew this could happen. You need time to implement the progress. I see it as reasonable that this is how the process could progress.
“Sometimes you need a few moments to add to it, to keep the faith. At Arsenal [in September] we should have won the game and Spurs didn’t and in the away game [in August]we should be ahead.
“But we didn’t get those points early in the season and from there, you get negativity and some injuries and you get a pattern where a lot is going against you. But you have to deal with difficulties — related to the process.
“So if you ask me the question ‘is it difficult for you?’ No, it is not difficult for me, because I could expect from the beginning of this season, when this happened, a process can go negative. As a manager, you have to stay positive and get the process going again.
“In the meantime, you have to be pragmatic, get as many points as possible and wait for the players to be fit. And you work on your team, you work on individuals to go to a higher level, you set conditions for the team to perform better and the results rise again.”
United will be boosted by the return of Martinez, Casemiro, Eriksen, Shaw, Antony and Amad Diallo against Spurs. “We now have more options to field a starting XI and create a stronger bench,” added Ten Hag.
He knows Ratcliffe will be watching with interest.
