Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been no stranger to adversity from the moment he walked through the door at Old Trafford last summer. Ten Hag has faced a lot, from the club’s takeover circus to disciplinary problems with high-profile players and everything in between.
One of the Dutchman’s most prominent issues this season has been the Jadon Sancho saga after the 23-year-old effectively called him a liar on social media in September.
Ten Hag had excluded Sancho from United’s travelling squad for the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal, later citing poor training performance.
The Red Devils No 25 bit back on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after, posting a short statement questioning his manager’s actual reasoning.
It prompted Ten Hag to exile him from the first-team squad, requesting a formal apology to unlock his return. In the four months of Sancho’s banishment, that hasn’t arrived.
Many have agreed with Ten Hag’s treatment of Sancho. But he has also fielded criticism for his disciplinarian approach, intensified by United’s disastrous second season under his watch.
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And some reports claim the 53-year-old doesn’t have much of a relationship with many of his players, drawing attention to his man-management capabilities.
It’s an area Sir Alex Ferguson thrived during his iconic 27-year-old tenure as United manager. And former Red Devils winger Ian Storey-Moore is unsure whether Ten Hag fits into the same category.
“Should he have handled them differently [Sancho, Ronaldo, etc]? That’s an interesting question. Sir Alex was the boss, wasn’t he? You had to do as you were told,” Storey-Moore told Express Sport.
“Where to be, what to eat, how to conduct your life, etc. Sir Alex was brilliant at that. He was like a father figure to the younger players. Now, whether Ten Hag comes under that banner, I’m not so sure.
