Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has, late on Sunday, provided an explanation for the absence of Jadon Sancho from his matchday squad to face Arsenal.
United, of course, marked their return to action a short time ago.
On the back of a morale-boosting comeback downing of Nottingham Forest last weekend, the Red Devils made the trip to north London, eyeing a 3rd win from four to start the Premier League campaign.
When all was said and done, however, quite the opposite was forthcoming.
After looking as though they had done enough to snatch all three points late on, United were dealt a hammer blow, upon Alejandro Garnacho’s go-ahead strike being ruled out for the tightest of offsides.
This, in turn, was followed by Declan Rice putting Arsenal in front a full five minutes into injury-time, before an ensuing Gunners breakaway saw Gabriel Jesus put the result beyond any doubt.
Well, this has been a turn of events 😲
Gabriel Jesus makes it THREE! pic.twitter.com/NL5tgeHxq7
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 3, 2023
The player in question was Jadon Sancho.
Amid rampant speculation surrounding the whereabouts of the England international, the subject of Sancho’s situation was, in turn, put to the aforementioned Ten Hag post-match.
And the Dutch tactician went on to reveal that Sancho was simply not called up, owing to his level of performance in training across the week:
“On his performance in training we didn’t select him. You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. You can make choices in the front line, so in this game he wasn’t selected.”
Erik ten Hag confirms ruthless Jadon Sancho call as £73m Man Utd star dropped againhttps://t.co/GeVDe2NTW1 pic.twitter.com/8u3uL3rqpk
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) September 3, 2023
Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa: Match report, player ratings, fan reaction and more
Gary Neville responds to Glazers taking Manchester United off the market
