The five strict rules Erik ten Hag set out when he first joined Man Utd as Jadon Sancho standoff continues

 

The five strict rules Erik ten Hag set out when he first joined Man Utd as Jadon Sancho standoff continues

 

The five strict rules Erik ten Hag set out when he first joined Man Utd as Jadon Sancho standoff continues

Erik ten Hag stamped his mark on Manchester United by introducing five strict rules on the players – some of which Jadon Sancho would appear to have broken.

 

Sancho has been training away from the rest of the first-team squad after a public spat with his manager following United’s 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League.

 

The Red Devils boss claimed that the winger had not been part of the matchday squad due to his performances in training.

 

Sancho then responded with a lengthy social media post refuting his manager’s comments, believing he was being used as a ‘scapegoat’.

 

 

 

The club have since confirmed that the 23-year-old is training separately while the ‘disciplinary issue’ is dealt with.

 

Meanwhile, Ten Hag’s strict rules upon taking the job at Old Trafford have resurfaced, with Sancho allegedly guilty of breaking a few.

 

According to The Mirror, Ten Hag’s five commandments consisted of the following:

 

 

 

Thou shalt be dropped if thou is late for training or team meetings

Thou shalt not drink alcohol in gameweeks

Thou shalt eat what is prepared by the club (personal chefs are banned)

Thou’s BMI shalt be checked monthly

Thou shalt complain to Ten Hag rather than agents

It has been suggested that Sancho had trouble keeping to the first rule, with the club having set him an arrival time of at least one hour earlier than the rest of the first team squad to ensure he made it to Carrington on time each day.

 

In addition, Sancho arguably broke rule no. 5. Instead of taking up the matter privately with his manager, Sancho launched a public defence of his actions, effectively branding Ten Hag’s statements untrue.

 

One may argue that the former Borussia Dortmund player had every right to prove his innocence bearing in mind Ten Hag’s initial comments were said in a public press conference. But when looking at the rules, it is reasonable to see how the club have found themselves in this position.

 

 

 

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Featured Image Credit: Getty

 

Topics: Jadon Sancho, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Football, Premier League

Joe Adams

Erik ten Hag ‘set Jadon Sancho strict rule’ at Man Utd that no other player had to follow

Ryan Smart

 

 

Erik ten Hag ‘set Jadon Sancho strict rule’ at Man Utd that no other player had to follow

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag set a strict rule for Jadon Sancho when he took charge at Old Trafford, according to a new report.

 

Sancho’s future at United is currently believed to be in doubt after a public dispute between the winger and Ten Hag – part of which played out on social media.

 

After Ten Hag claimed in a press conference that Sancho had not been selected in the squad to take on Arsenal due to training performances, the 23-year-old took to Twitter to state that was not the case. His post has since been deleted.

 

The Daily Star claim that ‘clear-the-air talks’ between manager and player came to nothing, and Sancho is now expected to leave United in January.

 

 

 

He may, therefore, have already played his last game under Ten Hag, although the Dutch manager may need to call upon Sancho for Saturday’s fixture against Brighton with Antony currently unavailable for selection.

 

According to a new report, Ten Hag went as far as setting a strict rule for Sancho to follow last season.

 

Erik ten Hag set ‘strict rule’ for Jadon Sancho to follow last season

 

 

 

The Athletic claim that Ten Hag and his coaches attempted to get Sancho to arrive on time for training by setting his schedule at least one hour earlier than the rest of the first team squad.

 

It is claimed that, when the winger was at Borussia Dortmund, he occasionally missed team meetings, and then Dortmund boss Edin Terzic teamed him up with Erling Haaland due to Norwegian’s high levels of professionalism.

 

There was also said to be some ‘concern’ behind the scenes over how Ten Hag publicly described Sancho’s absence from the first team due to mental health reasons at the end of last year.

 

However, the Dutchman is said to have believed that he was being ‘supportive’ of the player, and United felt that not providing a reason for his absence would have led to further speculation.

 

 

 

One England youth coach, meanwhile, defended the winger: “Maybe they don’t wear their tracksuit bottoms exactly like everybody else, or their laces are undone, or they wear headphones, we think they’re a bad person and we start to label them.

 

“They might be late once or twice, but somebody else might be late once or twice but we’ll forgive the other person because they fit our unconscious bias.”

 

Sancho is not the only player to have fallen foul of Ten Hag for disciplinary reasons. Marcus Rashford was dropped for a Premier League fixture against Wolves in January after turning up late for a team meeting, while Alejandro Garnacho suffered the same fate in pre-season last year.

 

All in all, it appears likely that Sancho will depart United in January – at the end of what has been a difficult 2023 for the winger.

 

Featured Image Credit: Getty

 

Topics: Jadon Sancho, Erik Ten Hag, Premier League, Manchester United

Ryan Smart

Erik ten Hag introduces new rule at Man Utd as Jadon Sancho told to train separately

Joe Adams

 

 

 

Published 17:06, 14 September 2023 BST

| Last updated 6:00, 15 September 2023 BST

 

Erik ten Hag introduces new rule at Man Utd as Jadon Sancho told to train separately

Erik ten Hag has introduced a new rule at Manchester United following the news that Jadon Sancho is training separately from the rest of the squad.

 

Players are now leaving the club’s Carrington training ground later due to being kept there for lunchtime meals in an effort to maximising their newly-refurbished canteen and new head chef Omar Meziane as part of Ten Hag’s nutritional initiative.

 

The Red Devils boss reportedly changed the players’ diets upon taking over in May 2022 and chef Meziane was hired from the Football Association as a result.

 

Instead of being free to leave training at lunchtime, the players are now departing Carrington at around 2pm after having lunch with their teammates.

 

 

Many would eat at nearby restaurants in Hale or Alderley Edge, with owners having complained at the sudden lack of United players dining with them for lunch, according to the Manchester Evening News. The report adds that none of the players have taken issue with the new regime.

 

The change follows former head of physical performance Ed Leng’s promotion lead sports scientist at the club, who has made a variety of modifications to their nutritional analysis at the start of their pre-season tour of the United States in July.

 

Players have allegedly started wearing blood glucose monitors to study their individual nutrition strategy on matchday, as well as sweat patches to examine their hydration levels.

 

 

Meanwhile, United staff have backed Ten Hag’s new strategy as the Dutchman continues to stamp his mark at Old Trafford.

 

However, not everyone has found it easy under Ten Hag, with Jadon Sancho coming under fire for his performances in training, which saw him excluded from United’s squad to face Arsenal.

 

The English winger could also miss their clash against Brighton after United confirmed that he was training away from the rest of the first-team due to “a pending resolution of a squad discipline issue”.

 

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Featured Image Credit: Getty

 

Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Football, Premier League, Jadon Sancho

Joe Adams

Jadon Sancho has deleted his statement calling out Erik ten Hag

Josh Lawless

 

 

 

Published 18:12, 12 September 2023 BST

| Last updated 18:28, 12 September 2023 BST

 

Jadon Sancho has deleted his statement calling out Erik ten Hag

Manchester United star Jadon Sancho has deleted his statement calling out manager Erik ten Hag.

 

After United’s 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates, Ten Hag claimed that Sancho, although fit and available, had been left out of his squad for the fixture because he did not reach the required levels in training.

 

 

 

“You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices on the frontline, so for this game he wasn’t selected.”

 

Sancho, a £73 million signing from Borussia Dortmund in 2021, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to refute the comments from his manager and add that he has “been a scapegoat”.

 

“Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week,” Sancho said in a post written on his phone notes.

 

“I believe there are 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 the team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and I am grateful to do so, which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”

 

Jadon Sancho in action for Manchester United. Image: Getty

Jadon Sancho in action for Manchester United. Image: Getty

It was a detailed statement from Sancho but fast forward to Tuesday 12 September after a flurry of reports on his future and the post is no longer visible on his profile.

 

 

 

The statement had been Sancho’s pinned post but appears to have been taken down, with his latest upload from August 6 after United’s final pre-season game against Athletic Club at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.

 

Sancho was the subject of an offer from Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq on the Saudi Pro League’s transfer deadline day but a deal did not materialise.

 

Former club Dortmund had been linked but cannot afford his hefty wages . Sancho has travelled to New York on holiday alongside team-mate Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the international break, angering United fans as a result.

 

 

Erik ten Hag slammed for “damaging” treatment of Jadon Sancho as Man Utd star banished from training

Joe Adams

 

 

 

Erik ten Hag slammed for “damaging” treatment of Jadon Sancho as Man Utd star banished from training

Manchester United have been warned they’re at risk of ‘mentally damaging’ Jadon Sancho after forcing him to train away from the rest of the first-team.

 

In a 21-word statement released on Thursday, the Red Devils confirmed that Sancho would be training away from the rest of the squad due to an ongoing ‘discipline issue.’

 

The statement follows a public feud between the 23-year-old and Erik ten Hag, in which Sancho openly denied his manager’s comments claiming that he was left out of the matchday squad for their game against Arsenal due to his poor performance in training.

 

Sancho returned to Carrington this week and has since deleted his statement hitting out at Ten Hag, with the pair thought to have sat down to discuss the issues. Meanwhile, it has been reported that Sancho refused to apologise to the Dutchman.

 

 

 

“I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing to him,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.

 

“I know he’s come out and made a statement, whether that was the right thing to do or not… but was it right of Ten Hag to dig him out when he wasn’t even involved with the group?

 

 

 

“What they’re doing to him right now is never going to get Jadon Sancho back to his best. All you’re going to do is mentally damage the football player and make him feel worse than he already does.

 

O’Hara went through a similar experience whilst playing for Wolves, admitting it made him “depressed”.

 

“I had it at Wolves,” he continued. “It is the worst feeling ever. You get ostracised from the group, you get made to feel that you’re not wanted, like you mean nothing to anyone and it is depressing.

 

 

 

O’Hara added: “If Manchester United can come out and say they’re mental health ambassadors and they do all this stuff about mental health around their group and community and then do that to their own player, they should be ashamed of themselves.

 

“They shouldn’t be doing that in this day and age… we all know it’s gone on in the past but you can’t do it anymore, especially to a young

player who’s already been through mental health struggles.”

 

Sancho previously spent time away from the squad on an individual training programme in the Netherlands to focus on his mental health.