Jadon Sancho ‘put himself above Man United’ with his social media outburst says Chris Sutton… as Ian Ladyman questions whether modern players are ‘incapable of taking criticism’ on Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off

• Sancho is set for showdown talks with Ten Hag following their public fallout
• The United winger said he had been made a ‘scapegoat’ by the manager
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off! 

Jadon Sancho put himself over Manchester United with his social media outburst over Erik ten Hag’s comments, according to Chris Sutton.

The 23-year-old was left out of the squad for United’s 3-1 defeat by Arsenal, with Ten Hag stating after the match that he dropped him over his performances in training.

Sancho fired back on social media that the claims were ‘completely untrue’ and said that he has been made a scapegoat at Old Trafford.

The pair are set for showdown talks on Monday to discuss the matter, which has left questions over Sancho’s future at Old Trafford.

Speaking on Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off! podcast, Chris Sutton said that Manchester United are in ‘utter chaos,’ while Ian Ladyman questioned whether modern players are ‘incapable of taking criticism.’

Ian Ladyman (left) has questioned whether players are ‘incapable of taking criticism’ while Chris Sutton (right) believes Jadon Sancho ‘put himself above Manchester United’

Sancho is due to hold talks with Erik ten Hag (right) over their public fallout after the loss to Arsenal

Ten Hag claimed the winger was dropped for his ‘training performance’, which Sancho denies

After Ladyman described the saga as ‘absolute nonsense,’ Sutton agreed as he said: ‘Yeah, I think it is. I do think you were right in saying Erik ten Hag was asked the question about Jadon Sancho, but Ten Hag digging him out that was always going to be an issue and it’s all blown up.

‘We know it’s not helped Ten Hag, it’s not helped Manchester United who at this moment in time are in utter chaos.’

When Ladyman suggested Sutton’s comment was the case of ‘players always backing players,’ Sutton responded: ‘Every action has a consequence and I don’t agree with what Ten Hag did. I understand your point that he was just being honest but the reaction from Sancho actually, he has turned into a keyboard warrior hasn’t he?’

In last week’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast, Sutton said that Sancho ‘looks like he’s finished at Manchester United and questioned why Ten Hag ‘chucked him under the bus.’

Mail Sport have since then reported that Ten Hag was not authorised to go public with Sancho’s mental health difficulties last season.

Ladyman, Mail Sport’s football editor, said that Ten Hag has believed that he has done everything with Sancho, from putting his arm around his shoulder and giving him space to also giving him extra attention. 

He said: ‘It’s not worked and this was his last chance to think, “right, I’m going to say something publicly and it will spark something within Sancho.

‘”He’ll train harder, he’ll work harder and we might see a bit of the player that we paid £75m for two summers ago” and what’s he got? He’s got Sancho’s dummy on the floor. That’s what he’s been rewarded with and I find that extraordinary.’

Sutton said that Sancho had three potential choices he could make after hearing Ten Hag’s comments and that the decision he made ‘put himself ahead of the team’.

The 23-year-old took to social media to explain why he thinks he is being used as a ‘scapegoat’

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The former Blackburn, Norwich and Celtic striker said: ‘He had the choice of to shut up and get back into training and prove the manager wrong. 

‘He had the choice of banging on Ten Hag’s door and discussing the comments and frankly having it out with him if he felt so strongly. And then the third choice, the choice which he did make, is going out on Instagram and posting the post, which he made.

‘And as soon as he did that, you know, I think most people thought this is Sancho putting himself ahead of the Manchester United team. It’s all about ego. It’s all about brand. And I can’t argue with any of that.’

Ladyman raised comments from Micah Richards who suggested that Ten Hag publicly embarrassed Sancho, and questioned whether the modern player is ‘incapable of taking any kind of criticism.’

Sutton responded: ‘My generation of player, I think managers used to be on a pedestal, I don’t know whether players now view managers in that same way.

‘I think players maybe think they’re on par or even more important than the manager. It certainly seems so in this case. For the benefit of the Manchester United team, did Jadon Sancho do the right thing? And he absolutely did not.

‘He put himself, you know, ahead of his team-mates. But in terms of sort of back in my day, most half-times, full time, there would be, there would be managers challenging players, shouting, teacups. That was the way and as a player, you would respond when you actually believed in their own argument. 

‘Nowadays, I think that with that particular criticism, I don’t think that that was a big deal what Ten Hag said but the way it’s all blown up, I’m not saying Ten Hag was daft because he was asked the question, but there was always this danger and I’ve been proven right on this, that this has  all blown up and it’s got out of control and Manchester United absolutely do not need this at this moment in time.’

Ladyman recalled Manchester United’s FA Cup replay victory at home against Nottingham Forest in January, saying the ‘highlight of the night by a mile’ was Sancho coming off the bench to make his first appearance back in the team following his absence – which was due to what Ten Hag described as physical and mental issues.

Sancho’s future at Old Trafford looks uncertain following his response to Ten Hag online

He added: ‘He got a standing ovation from 80, 000 people. And the reason for that was because the manager had showed him support. The manager had been honest to let people know that he was, he’d had some issues. And the response, the sympathy, the empathy from all of those Manchester United supporters was magnificent.

‘And I think now Sancho’s thrown all that love back into Ten Hag’s face. And I found that something that had that happened in your day, I don’t think Sancho’s feet would have touched the ground on the way out the door.’

Sutton said that the one big chance today compared to the past is the accessibility of social media for players.

He added: ‘What about just a bit of common decency and respect and doing the right thing. And if a manager is challenging you, he’s challenged you for a particular reason, call him, go and knock on his door and do the right thing and show an element of respect.

‘Sancho will turn around and say “Ten Hag’s showed me no respect when he called me out publicly”. 

‘But is that not part of the manager’s right to do that. They are viewed differently to the way they 20 years ago.’

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

Your browser does not support iframes.

It’s All Kicking Off! is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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