[The Hilton]

I was critical of De Gea earlier in the season with his refusal to collect any cross that was played into the 6-yard box - as he should at the very least be commanding that area.

Since Rangnick came in, I have noticed that De Gea's confidence has grown and he has been performing well.

You only have to check my post history to see that I am critical of Rashford, and also Bruno (when he constantly gives the ball away), though I will be the first to say that Bruno played well today, and he just needs to eradicate the needless yellow cards he picks up.


With regards to judging players after half a season, I honestly believe that I will be saying the same about Sancho after two thirds of the season, at three quarters of the season, and then again at the end of the season.

For the price we paid, he has been a massive disappointment.

So were Vidic and Evra this far into their United careers. They now both sit in the argument for our best ever players in their respective positions.

You might be proven right in a couple of years, but to call him a dud so soon is just far too reactionary in my book, especially when we've been trying to play him as another Rashford for most of the (half) season so far.

 

[simmee]

I'm not gonna judge him until next season. He's got the talent but is probably still adapting to new surroundings, especially on the pitch. I think it's important we support him at this time, rather than kill his confidence, which is probably low at this time. The EPL has seen players struggle in their first seasons in the past before going on-to become legends of the league. Sancho is still 21 and we shouldn't lose hope in him already.

I agree with you but it's depressing to see him play at the moment. You could see the a coach pumping him up to win his duels before he came on and I don't think he won a single one. All i want at the moment is to see the players show some fight. Same goes for Rashford and Greenwood to be honest, low on confidence or having a bad day? Totally fine, but at least give me a a few tackles to cheer.

 

[The Hilton]

Bruno as well. The only player to actually face the fans and take the blame instead of hiding behind the manager/ crying to their agent.

I agree that his attitude has been better than most, but his football has been rubbish for most of the season.

Today was an improvement, and lets hope it continues, but the point was that most of the squad are seriously underperforming, rather than just Sancho, and Rangnick needs to find a system that works for all of our talented players who have been rubbish (and also teach them how to press properly).

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Not judging his performance today but I still can't believe this is the player the Caf wouldn't shut up about for 2 years.

I think we've been catfished.

 

[BurgerVan]

Never seen Elanga before, or even heard of him until very recently, but he looks a real talent.

Likely earning 1/10th of Sancho's wages (if that), and looks much better - quicker, braver, stronger, skilled. Best Utd player today by far. Actually reminds me a lot of Saka is his style of play. Sancho is not bad, he just wasn't needed. That £73m should of gone towards Tielemens and Neves.

 

[Stacks]

Why do the BDL love Sancho?

They keep harping on about his stats because they are rivalling Messi and Neymar but everytime I see him play he showed me nout. Then I am told he is a system player but in the Bundesliga highlights he looks fast and skillful. Here he looks none of that but then Depay had the same experience here.

 

[Deery]

Coutinho did more in 25 minutes than this guy has all season, can’t believe we spent £75m on him, something is truly wrong with our scouting system. I mean £75m surely you want to make 100% sure that the guy is good enough before spending that kind of money, Gareth Southgate wasn’t even putting him anywhere near a England first team but nobody thought that was a red flag..

 

[The Oracle]

So were Vidic and Evra this far into their United careers. They now both sit in the argument for our best ever players in their respective positions.

You might be proven right in a couple of years, but to call him a dud so soon is just far too reactionary in my book, especially when we've been trying to play him as another Rashford for most of the (half) season so far.

Vidic and Evra were signed for very reasonable amounts at the time (circa £7m and £5.5m respectively, which with inflation in today's terms would be £2m to £3m more than that - which is still a bargain), and they went on to have exceptional careers at United.

The issue with Sancho is the transfer fee of £73m and he is not delivering.
For the transfer fee he should be hitting the ground running. Instead it is just not happening.

I had my reservations about Sancho before he signed. Admittedly it was based on his England performances, but I never saw anything when he played for England that got me thinking, "Wow we really need to sign him"
Of course there is always the Dortmund hype, but is that really a strong league? It's certainly not as strong a league as it used to be.

I would love nothing more than to see him come good... but I just don't see it unfortunately.

 

[RazorOz]

They keep harping on about his stats because they are rivalling Messi and Neymar but everytime I see him play he showed me nout. Then I am told he is a system player but in the Bundesliga highlights he looks fast and skillful. Here he looks none of that but then Depay had the same experience here.

Likely because Dortmund themselves play at a much higher tempo than we do. He played in a system where the front players all moved, and the full backs all overlapped. There's none of that at Utd. Our front players are often statues, and our full backs don't overlap that much.

He needs to do better, but you could throw that at nearly every player in the team. He's come into a team that has been terrible all season, that's not helping adapting. Look at Grealish for example, he has hardly set the word alight for 100m, but it doesn't matter because his team is so good, so he has time to shine, Sancho doesn't have that time, we are crap, so we expect our 73m player to turn it around for us.

 

[Jacob]

Coutinho did more in 25 minutes than this guy has all season, can’t believe we spent £75m on him, something is truly wrong with our scouting system. I mean £75m surely you want to make 100% sure that the guy is good enough before spending that kind of money, Gareth Southgate wasn’t even putting him anywhere near a England first team but nobody thought that was a red flag..

Every man and his dog wanted Sancho. Its clearly a system or managerial issue. We've put him in a team that doesn't click.

 

[Deery]

Every man and his dog wanted Sancho. Its clearly a system or managerial issue. We've put him in a team that doesn't click.

I didn’t, was fooled at a point in the beginning but after watching him in the CL and for England I never saw it.

 

[elnorte]

Every man and his dog wanted Sancho. Its clearly a system or managerial issue. We've put him in a team that doesn't click.

There was a distinct lack of interest from other clubs. What we're seeing now tells us why.

 

[Greck]

Every man and his dog wanted Sancho. Its clearly a system or managerial issue. We've put him in a team that doesn't click.

Definitely not. There was a thread asking if he was worth it with many saying no or suspecting he was another system player at Dortmund. His showings for England were commonly brought up. Obviously the actual transfer threads would naturally be an echo chamber of people who are sold.

 

[Smores]

I don't really care to debate his talent i think he's proven that, however his effort levels today were disgusting.

It's like he has no drive. He was facing tired defenders and yet he was strolling around the pitch.

 

[Jacob]

There was a distinct lack of interest from other clubs. What we're seeing now tells us why.

Tells us nothing. More or less all players are shit right now despite their individual quality. It will get better

 

[BusbyMalone]

Every man and his dog wanted Sancho. Its clearly a system or managerial issue. We've put him in a team that doesn't click.

Exactly. The boy was one of the most exciting young players in Europe. He's just the latest example of a player coming into a broken system and a club who no longer has the ability to improve and nurture talent.

 

[The Hilton]

Vidic and Evra were signed for very reasonable amounts at the time (circa £7m and £5.5m respectively, which with inflation in today's terms would be £2m to £3m more than that - which is still a bargain), and they went on to have exceptional careers at United.

The issue with Sancho is the transfer fee of £73m and he is not delivering.
For the transfer fee he should be hitting the ground running. Instead it is just not happening.

I had my reservations about Sancho before he signed. Admittedly it was based on his England performances, but I never saw anything when he played for England that got me thinking, "Wow we really need to sign him"
Of course there is always the Dortmund hype, but is that really a strong league? It's certainly not as strong a league as it used to be.

I would love nothing more than to see him come good... but I just don't see it unfortunately.

That's fair, and a lot more reasonable than calling posters calling him talented nonsense.

Still, I have to disagree, I think he's demonstrated a great eye for a pass, and the ability to make space in tight spaces. If we start using him as the tricky player he is, rather than as a pace and power winger/forward like Rashford, then we'll hopefully see the top player I believe he's capable of becoming.

 

[Tyrion]

Every man and his dog wanted Sancho. Its clearly a system or managerial issue. We've put him in a team that doesn't click.

Agreed. Everyone in Germany has been hyping him up for a year or two and were baffled Southgate didn't pick him every game. He's obviously good.

 

[shamans]

Every man and his dog wanted Sancho. Its clearly a system or managerial issue. We've put him in a team that doesn't click.

I thought we overpaid . Problem is you get drowned out in the noise

 

[Stacks]

True.

Likely because Dortmund themselves play at a much higher tempo than we do. He played in a system where the front players all moved, and the full backs all overlapped. There's none of that at Utd. Our front players are often statues, and our full backs don't overlap that much.

He needs to do better, but you could throw that at nearly every player in the team. He's come into a team that has been terrible all season, that's not helping adapting. Look at Grealish for example, he has hardly set the word alight for 100m, but it doesn't matter because his team is so good, so he has time to shine, Sancho doesn't have that time, we are crap, so we expect our 73m player to turn it around for us.

True. He must have talent. Its impossible for him to do what he did without talent. I am just concerned that he wasn't the right signing for this United situation because we got muppet fever. We sign players with no clue how to use them. What was Donny role meant to be?

 

[bugmat]

He's not an athlete - not fast or strong enough to play wide in the league. Has the skills but not the energy or drive to match the pace of the league so far.

He will need to go on the Ronaldo/Elanga programme over the summer.

 

[RedDevil250]

Is the Bundesliga really this bad? I am not giving up on him yet but he has not looked good at all. Pretty sad.

 

[bosnian_red]

Is the Bundesliga really this bad? I am not giving up on him yet but he has not looked good at all. Pretty sad.

Nobody has looked good this season for United. Varane and Ronaldo havent been good ffs. Bruno has been shit. Everyone has been shit.

Don't read too much into individual struggles like Sancho's. Sometimes with seasons like this one, you just have to keep the faith. Sancho was a world class player for Dortmund, it's nothing to do with the bundesliga's quality, he was genuinely a world class player. He has shown flashes of his quality and you can see the raw attributes, but he hasn't been on the same wavelength as his team mates, he's been making sloppy passes, been rushing things at times and his decision making which for Dortmund was excellent, hasn't been the best here.

He'll come good, but it might not be this season because United as a team is horrendous this season with every single outfield player without exception struggling.

 

[bosnian_red]

£70 mil on who was supposed to be our right wing saviour. Greenwood offers alot more than him from that side.

Fine! Let's shift him to the left as he's played there before and can cut inside, right?

He's possibly even worse on that side. I'm flabbergasted.

Not like Greenwood has offered much on the right either though. We just haven't found any sort of solution to get any outfield player performing this season. Greenwood, Sancho, Ronaldo, Bruno, Rashford, Cavani, Pogba, Shaw, etc. They've all been horrible. Answer is let's not make judgements on individual quality as there is obviously more at play.

 

[VivaRonaldo85]

The most alarming part is Elanga looked head and shoulders superior to him and when Sancho replaced him, we looked much less of a threat on that left side. That’s sobering.

 

[ash_86]

Looks absolutely ordinary. Not suited to the league nor the system. Haven't produced a single half that proves that he's the guy. We've been conned

 

[Bebestation]

I didn’t, was fooled at a point in the beginning but after watching him in the CL and for England I never saw it.

Me too. His CL performances were a level below his Bundesliga performances.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I’m trying to be patient but he looks very ordinary so far. Well, Havertz also looks very ordinary. The bundesliga is nothing special. I guess Southgate has some sense for making him below Sterling, Saka, and Grealish in pecking order. Should have gone for Grealish or cheaper option Raphinha.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Bundes liga clubs must had a meeting about how to make money in smart way. Every team is purposely playing very high line to make their attacking players look top class so they can sell them to la liga or PL teams for over-priced fees. The good ones are sold cheap to Bayern. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[Lentwood]

We have this massive scouting department, plus all manner of analysts yet we continue to get our recruitment wrong.

That tells me that the models we use and the way we interpret our Data is wrong. No use having all the Data in the World if we are measuring the wrong things.

In the PL, the first thing you must have is physical attributes. That doesnt mean you have to be 6ft 3" and stacked, but at the very least you must have incredible stamina and energy.

Ideally, for a forward player, you want them to be relentless, full of energy, low centre of gravity, tenacious, strong, quick, agile and aggressive.

Sancho possesses none of those attributes. I'm sure he's a very neat, talented footballer, but that won't cut it I am afraid. This is the PL, not a Futsal tournament.

We need a total reevaluation and revamp of our scouting department when fundamental mistakes keep being made. You saw the difference between Elanga, a player who does have the correct physical attributes, and Sancho, who does not.

I am sure Sancho probably has more tricks than Elanga, but Elanga looked so much more suited to the PL.

 

[Bebestation]

I remember when I used to say that he reminded me of Aaron Lennon and Walcott.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Well maybe Southgate is right after all, for opting Saka over Sancho in Euro:

Saka: 7 goals 4 assists in 23 games
Sancho: 2 goals 0 assist in 23 games

 

[Roboc7]

Always thought he’s over rated but he can’t be this bad. The lack of pace is an issue in the Premier League and I do think he’ll find it tough going. Looks like someone who we’ll spend ages saying he needs this and that before can expect him to be any good.

 

[Pronewbie]

Well maybe Southgate is right after all, for opting Saka over Sancho in Euro:

Saka: 7 goals 4 assists in 23 games
Sancho: 2 goals 0 assist in 23 games

Called it earlier this season. Saka is already a better all-rounder. Mentally he also has the confidence and humility to learn. Not that Sancho can’t kick on, I’ve just been very impressed with Saka last year.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

We have this massive scouting department, plus all manner of analysts yet we continue to get our recruitment wrong.

That tells me that the models we use and the way we interpret our Data is wrong. No use having all the Data in the World if we are measuring the wrong things.

In the PL, the first thing you must have is physical attributes. That doesnt mean you have to be 6ft 3" and stacked, but at the very least you must have incredible stamina and energy.

Ideally, for a forward player, you want them to be relentless, full of energy, low centre of gravity, tenacious, strong, quick, agile and aggressive.

Sancho possesses none of those attributes. I'm sure he's a very neat, talented footballer, but that won't cut it I am afraid. This is the PL, not a Futsal tournament.

We need a total reevaluation and revamp of our scouting department when fundamental mistakes keep being made. You saw the difference between Elanga, a player who does have the correct physical attributes, and Sancho, who does not.

I am sure Sancho probably has more tricks than Elanga, but Elanga looked so much more suited to the PL.

I can't remember anyone in Man Ctiy meet your criteria. I just can't use strong, quick, aggressive, relentless, full of energy to describe KDB, Mahrez or Silva.

 

[Jeppers7]

Worryingly poor at this point. Just a nothingness.

 

[kouroux]

Responsibility? The players are actually ... playing.. you know? What do you do?

If fans do nothing then how can they be part of a problem that has a real impact ? You cannot have it both ways.

 

[Member 117152]

Never seen Elanga before, or even heard of him until very recently, but he looks a real talent.

Likely earning 1/10th of Sancho's wages (if that), and looks much better - quicker, braver, stronger, skilled. Best Utd player today by far. Actually reminds me a lot of Saka is his style of play. Sancho is not bad, he just wasn't needed. That £73m should of gone towards Tielemens and Neves.

Sancho is a better player than Saka or Elanga almost guaranteed. The guy needs a fluid system to work properly as he is super smart on and off the ball with certain systems.

Obviously United have none of that so we aren’t using the guy remotely like what he was brought into do.

 

[Member 117152]

We have this massive scouting department, plus all manner of analysts yet we continue to get our recruitment wrong.

That tells me that the models we use and the way we interpret our Data is wrong. No use having all the Data in the World if we are measuring the wrong things.

In the PL, the first thing you must have is physical attributes. That doesnt mean you have to be 6ft 3" and stacked, but at the very least you must have incredible stamina and energy.

Ideally, for a forward player, you want them to be relentless, full of energy, low centre of gravity, tenacious, strong, quick, agile and aggressive.

Sancho possesses none of those attributes. I'm sure he's a very neat, talented footballer, but that won't cut it I am afraid. This is the PL, not a Futsal tournament.

We need a total reevaluation and revamp of our scouting department when fundamental mistakes keep being made. You saw the difference between Elanga, a player who does have the correct physical attributes, and Sancho, who does not.

I am sure Sancho probably has more tricks than Elanga, but Elanga looked so much more suited to the PL.

Sancho has ripped Bayern to shreds before when used correctly. Him and Haaland last season and the season before were two of the best players on the planet so maybe don’t judge him playing in this terrible United side.

We are horrible. Embarassingly badly put together first 11. Zero midfield or control.

Sancho plays well around the opponents box with options to give and go. Everything United cannot do right now. If he played for City he would seem levels above 90 percent of our players right now I’m quite sure.

Despite his poor start he’s actually been one of our best attackers this season. One of the few who gets his head up and creates. Greenwood is very selfish so has his own drawbacks for example.

 

[KennyBurner]

Im going to be honest I have no time for this guy. He is so weak and non threatening on the ball for his position. He isnt what I expected even though I was very skeptical due to his lack of pace and bench duties during the euros.