Eric ten Hag in another tough net since Cristiano Ronaldo exit from Manchester United

The Man United manager decided on Thursday to ban Jadon Sancho from first-team training but a longer-term decision will eventually need to be made.

It was only ever really going to end one way with Jadon Sancho from the moment he hit ‘post’ shortly after Manchester United’s loss to Arsenal.

The United winger’s rebuke of claims he had been below-par in training could have been taken as a ‘heat of the moment’ reaction, had it not been pinned to the top of his X profile as recently as Tuesday. For nine days it was the bookmarked post and when it was eventually removed, the damage had been done.

In urging fans not to believe everything they hear or read and insisting he had been competent in training, Sancho effectively claimed that Erik ten Hag had lied. The Reds attacker directly contradicted his manager’s claim that poor performances during the week saw him left out of the squad to face Arsenal.

And so when the pair met earlier this week for talks, the end result seemed to be already written on the walls. United confirmed on Thursday evening that Sancho would train alone, their 21-word statement saying far more when reading between the lines.

Ten Hag has never shied away from stamping down his authority at United, regardless of the severity of offence. He didn’t use Alejandro Garnacho at all during last summer’s pre-season tour after the then-18-year-old turned up late for multiple team meetings.

He also left Marcus Rashford out of the starting line-up to face Wolves in December for the same offence – albeit just the once, and he ended up netting the winner off the bench. But the biggest test of Ten Hag’s authority came from Cristiano Ronaldo.

The veteran forward refused to come on as a substitute in a match against Tottenham in October last year, the latest of several spats between player and manager. In November, he lit the fuse on several months of increasing tension by accepting an interview with Piers Morgan, laying into the club and admitted he had no respect for Ten Hag.

United had ripped up the forward’s mega-money contract within the space of a week – he at least got a total of 67 words in his statement from the club. It was the first true test of how Ten Hag would deal with ill-discipline of the highest order, and the Dutchman didn’t hesitate.
“I have to take decisions in respect of advancing the club. I have to see and face the consequences, the impact of the decisions.”

Sancho has taken down his social media post but appeared to double down on his stance, with reports suggesting he refused to apologise to Ten Hag. The 23-year-old is said to be unhappy with the Reds boss going public and believes he is being held to a different standard to some of his teammates – hence the claims of ‘scapegoat’.

United’s instant response has been to remove the winger from first-team training and he will clearly be unavailable for Saturday’s game against Brighton. But with the Champions League group stages on the horizon – they travel to Bayern Munich on Wednesday – and midweek fixtures in the schedule, resolve will be tested.

Ten Hag is without Antony, who has taken a leave of absence to address allegations of abuse against him, which he denies, which leaves him with only one natural right-winger in Facundo Pellistri. It remains to be seen whether that could soften the Dutchman’s stance, but there are three-and-a-half months until the next transfer window opens and a decision needs to be made.