Jadon Sancho might find there is no way back at Manchester United after Erik ten Hag response

Erik ten Hag questioned the level of Jadon Sancho’s Man Utd training performances, but earned an incredible response in the form of a social media statement from the winger.

When Jason Sancho puts his finger on the submit button, one wonders if anyone has thought about what he is doing and what the possible consequences are now.

Just over an hour after Erik ten Hag said in the Emirates press room that the £73m winger didn’t deserve a spot in his matchday squad of 20 because of his form in training, Sancho wrote on social media to censure him.

It was an amazing thing. Sancho needs no reminder of what happened to the last player to make illicit comments questioning the integrity of his manager at Old Trafford.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s interview with Piers Morgan could have been more provocative and planned but Manchester United acted within days and the Portuguese star still risked disciplinary action.

It ended with his resignation from the club, which suited all parties. Still unlikely for Sancho. His comments on social media were clearly more impulsive and heartfelt than Ronaldo’s cascade of half-truths aimed at sacking him from a club the manager rightly felt he no longer belonged to.

For Sancho, this should be the highlight of his career. The 23-year-old is a £73million Premier League star who made the bold and brave decision to join Borussia Dortmund as a teenager.

Let’s not forget that he was at the forefront of the growing number of young English players who regularly went abroad to play football. But his move to United soon fell through.

The highlights we’ve seen in the Bundesliga have been rare, with just 12 goals and six assists in 82 appearances.He looks like the shadow of a player the club thought they had signed.

That’s exactly what Ten Hag underlined when speaking to journalists who regularly cover United during the club’s US tour.

He supports the theory that promotion from the Bundesliga to the Premier League is a challenge, but also says that he calls for more consistency.

“The Bundesliga is perfect preparation for the Premier League,” said Ten Hag. “[The Premier League is] tougher.

“I think your vision is a little bit grey [also]. I saw many games at Dortmund and Jadon is not such a different player in Dortmund as he is here. But also for him, he has to get more consistency in his performance but he has to do it at a higher level.”

Ten Hag was protective of Sancho at that point, the end of July, but has clearly changed his approach just five weeks later. The breakdown in the relationship between manager and play is more surprising given it’s not long since Ten Hag’s handling of the winger was considered to have been shrewd and successful.

He was given time away from the squad last season to overcome “physical and mental” issues and didn’t play between October 22 and February 1, but when he did return there was a brief upturn in form and confidence. Ten Hag was widely praised for his handling of the player and his comments from early February on that decision are worth revisiting.

“It’s a personal thing and you don’t know in any head what is going on and I think you have to respect that,” said Ten Hag. “I support every player, I back every player where I can and I want to ensure that we have a good team spirit; ensure and encourage and motivate all the players to give their best.

“So I will push them and I will be there, and my coaches as well, if they have problems and we will help them to sort them out.”

In light of his honest appraisal on Sunday, “I back every player where I can” now looks an interesting comment. Clearly, Ten Hag feels he can no longer back Sancho.

For your part, you wonder if Sancho will regret calling his manager a liar in his social media post. His claim to be used as a “scapegoat”; because there is something unusual. Sure, there’s more to it than meets the eye, but it seems difficult for a player who has underperformed for over two years to get back on the pitch.

United have options up front, Ten Hag said on Sunday, and Sancho seems to be at the bottom of those options at the moment.

He has three years left on his contract but barring a drastic change in his performances, he is likely to leave the team next year, assuming he doesn’t feel like fleeing to Saudi Arabia in the next four days.

But it’s also time for the player to take stock. Obviously, he doesn’t appreciate Ten Hag’s public comments but there have been occasional concerns about Sancho’s level of training with the England side.

At the moment we are very, very far from the international system. What happens in training may not be visible to the public, but we can evaluate performance in games.

Even Sancho was too weak in this respect.He hasn’t reached his goal yet, left, right, or center, and after Sunday night’s episode, it’s hard to predict if he ever will.

Two days after the chaotic end of the market period, calm should have returned after the storm. Some followers, on the other hand, have reworked Antonio Conte’s famous meme on social media. “An ordinary day at Manchester United.

That’s all I ask.”That will never happen.” It’s the club that turned the crisis into an art form. They come in all shapes and sizes, often when you least expect it. United could expect a quiet international break until Sancho hits the button of sending.