What's happened to Jadon Sancho?

Jadon Sancho has not been included in the England squad for the World Cup. What's even more surprising than his omission, is he wasn't even in the conversation.

After signing for Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund for £73 million in July 2021, he has struggled to find his feet in the Premier League and finds himself with just 8 goals and 4 assists in 52 games.

Once one of Englands brightest young talents who played under Gareth Southgate at Euro 2020, Jon Mackenzie looks at what has caused this fall from grace.

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[Prince-qrte]

He's 22 years old. United have not been a good team for the vast majority of the time he's been there. I'm still confident his time will come. Garnacho is objectively not a better player but is doing well because of confidence.

[PinakKashyap]

Nobody understands Hegel, but I understand you Jon

[ianhosbach]

As a philosophy Ph.D. who loves football, clicking on a video about Sancho and seeing a Hegel meme shirt really makes me feel like I belong here

[Daiton]

I still believe in Sancho, one of my favourite players to watch when he was at Dortmund so creative and such a livewire with the ball at his feet. The quality he showed at Dortmund was incredible and I'd not seen goal contribution numbers like it from a young English player, numbers wise you could say he was one of the best attackers in European football during his time in Germany. While I did anticipate a bit of a drop off when he joined United, especially during his first season, I didn't expect such a large dip in form and I really hope he's able to show his proven quality at United soon

[TheGandreg]

The bits I saw of him at Dortmund had him more often than not creating in the half spaces or in the space occupied by a traditional number 10 even if he started out positionally as a winger. At MU, he's being played as an out and out winger tasked to get to the byline or to take on the defender, which is not his strong suit. As some others have pointed out I would give him a try in the number 10 when Bruno needs a rest or is out of form.

[idzwanramli]

He came at the worst time, when Cristiano came back.
Cristiano will always DEMAND the limelight. He'll never allow another player to shine more than him.
I've never seen an enthusiastic celebration from Cristiano when someone else scores. But I've seen everybody else celebrate like they've hit the jackpot even though another player scores.

[jwt-nuei]

The guy just looks unathletic. He isn't explosive, he can't beat a man, most of the better teams have fullbacks / wingbacks who can easily cover him. He reminds me of the sorry sight we often see with ageing once-great players when injuries and wear and tear leave them looking like they're running in lead boots.

[rasto]

First time I've seen a football analyst in a Hegel shirt. Very cool, John Dog. More please!

[Max-vetu]

The main issue is that he does not see green grass in front of him anymore. At Dortmund, many of the opponents were all gung-ho and leaving spaces all over the place. Most of United's opponents are much more disciplined and therefore Sancho does not have the same opportunities to run at defenders. He also seems to be unable to play with any sort of urgency, which make it easy for the fullback to get support.

[jamesmilligan]

I don’t care what people say or stats say, he plays better on the right than on the left. At the start of the season he was playing well and getting goals from the right, then Antony came and he moved to the left and he hasn’t looked the same since

[gmoney]

I think Sancho is a player for what ETH's team will become - no disrespect to him, he just needs a better structured system around him and players to perform roles which aim him and the team's attack - Utd aren't there yet and won't be for another couple of transfer windows

[Bagster]

Honestly wish Sancho never went to United. It's stunted his career.

[Bshiraz]

As mentioned in the video, a midfielder that can make supporting runs and provide space for Sancho is important. As the rumors suggest, United going for a top midfielder like Bellingham (his teammate at Dortmund) would be amazing for Sancho.

[PT-qerb]

The words Jaden Sancho said three times in the space of the first ten seconds of this video broke my brain

edit - for those of you struggling with the English language I've added some punctuation to help you out:
The words "Jaden Sancho" - said three times in the space of the first ten seconds of this video - broke my brain.

[philipchi]

In FM terms, retrain him as a mezzala 😊
Foden, Bernardo Silva, and Pedri are good examples.
But that’ll require changing the formation from 4231 to 433, and the only player capable of playing as a single pivot is Casemiro…

[_Chairman_Meow]

I found it so strange that he was almost exclusively played on the left rather than the right when he was actually playing. A) Rashford is way more dangerous there than the right and B) fernandes does make those runs in to the inside right position and dalot is far more likely to overlap or under lap

[TJ_Jones]

Still waiting for the wolves video on the appointment of Julen Lopetegui, massive appointment in the league and not a mention whatsoever 🤦‍♂️🙄, then compounded by the quick and very well put together presentation of Unai Emery’s appointment. Not surprised though with this channels over extensive converage of select clubs (utd, Tottenham, brighton, chelsea to name a few)

[kaisersolo]

Not playing with Haaland will decrease your stats to reveal a worser player.

[deep]

I remember him asking Saka how many goals has he got ??? 😭😭😭😭
They haven't been the same since

[MBison-vmgq]

I always thought he was overrated. Played for the 2nd best team in Germany. There was a gulf in class when you compare the rest of the league. I knew he would struggle in the prem. But people need to back off him man it's like there's a witch hunt. He knows more than anyone it ain't going well. Its like everyone wants him to fail. He's still a young talented kid that needs guidance not constant criticism