UNITED CLEAR FOR TAKE-OFF
Fired-up Sancho credits gaffer for lifting confusion – and plotting success
JADON SANCHO thinks Erik ten Hag has lifted the fog of confusion surrounding Old Trafford.
The England star insists there is a new-found clarity at Manchester United after their third successive victory following a troubled start to the campaign.
Sancho has started in every Premier League game so far and his own form is picking up after he bagged the winner against Leicester on Thursday night.
Asked how United have orchestrated the upturn in fortune, Sancho said: “We’ve just stuck to the game-plan.
“It’s as the new manager wants, every session we’re getting better.
“We’re gelling well, playing more in his style and everyone is loving it. We have a style of play, some of it is just understanding the intelligence of our players, we’re getting to know each other.
“And now we have more information, a clearer plan of what to do, especially in some areas of the pitch.
“Everyone on the pitch is putting in 100 per cent. We are putting it in – and we have to keep giving that to get results.”
The debacle at Brentford Community Stadium was a wake-up call. Since then, three wins on the spin, allied to impressive swoops in the transfer market, have quietened the chorus of disapproval that swirled around ten Hag and his expensively-assembled squad. The players were sent out on a good old-fashioned run as punishment.
Sancho added: “We shouldn’t have been losing like that. Everyone just took it as extra running and more fitness. After that, we’ve just got on with it. We’ve got three wins in a row now. We have to keep it going.”
But Sancho himself is also gearing up. He’s scored twice in three consecutive wins – the first time the club have achieved that feat since April 2021. He said: “That’s a long time for a club like this. It’s been welcome but the most important thing is the team playing well. When the team plays well, individual moments come to light. I have to keep up this form.”
Ten Hag was pleased with the clean sheet against Leicester and said: “The whole team is defending.
“That makes it easier for our defenders. What they do now is cooperate. They do it together. They support each other.”
Arsenal take their 100 per cent record to Old Trafford tomorrow and the Dutchman added: “They are tough opponents. This is a team that is together with the coach.”