This is the key. He was basically asked to do miracles each time he received the ball in attacking position which made defending him easy.
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) look forward to a new life under Ruben Amorim. What system will we be playing? What players will impress? and how will it all go? We also say goodbye to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and review United's 3-0 win at home against Leicester City.
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Yeah thats my view on him too.
There was a moment when he did dribble past them and Telles was too busy watching it happen he wasn't ready for the pass when it came.
This isn't necessarily a problem. As Ribéry legs went (a player Sancho is very similar to) he simply learned to make use of Alabas pace (then LB). Sancho could do the same, occupy the half space between an attacking LWB and the CAM. Sometimes releasing the LWB, sometimes threading the ball through to the ST, other times combining with CAM and going for goal himself. Would need a player like Hakimi, prime Marcelo or Davies for that though.
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Simeone identified him as one of the main threats and they took care of him.
The best of Mata was with Antonio Valencia, I think Sancho needs a dynamic fullback behind him, Telles isn't a great athlete and Shaw is too lazy.
True, he was always doubled immediately. But he also wasn't up for it, too careless and irresolute, got dispossessed too easily. Not a good game from him.
The hype needs to calm down with him. He may be our best attacker (but the rest of our attack makes him by default our best). The truth is he wasn't good in both legs.
We paid 75million for this guy to turn up for big matches like last night. Instead he got marked out of the game and turned into Marcus Sancho.
Once prem defenders figure all you got to do is double up on him he's going to get exposed real quick. He'll no doubt look decent against teams who gives him acres of space, but against good defences he'll do nuttin. The Bundesliga made him look a better than he is, there acres of space to attack in behind & players stand off you with the balk at your feet which suited Sancho. Don't get me wrong he is a solid player but not a 75 million 250k per week player. You pay that for a difference maker. Not someone who lacks explosive pace to go beyond players and has a small repertoire of cute little tricks that dazzle a few moments in a game and then easily goes missing when the going gets tough.
Luiz Diaz who cost a fraction of the price is already terrorising defences with pure pace, power and strength with incredible bag of skills on both wings without a host of excuses needing to made for him. No one in Liverpool cries that defenders are trying to mark him or about fullbacks not supporting with Pampers nappies, because he's such a good player that he finds a way.
Ronaldo always use to get double triple marked in his prime with defenders literally trying to break his legs every week, yet he still was such a talent that he found a way around it. I don't see that happening with this guy.
Once prem defenders figure all you got to do is double up on him he's going to get exposed real quick. He'll no doubt look decent against teams who gives him acres of space, but against good defences he'll do nuttin. The Bundesliga made him look a better than he is, there acres of space to attack in behind & players stand off you with the balk at your feet which suited Sancho. Don't get me wrong he is a solid player but not a 75 million 250k per week player. You pay that for a difference maker. Not someone who lacks explosive pace to go beyond players and has a small repertoire of cute little tricks that dazzle a few moments in a game and then easily goes missing when the going gets tough.
Luiz Diaz who cost a fraction of the price is already terrorising defences with pure pace, power and strength with incredible bag of skills on both wings without a host of excuses needing to made for him. No one in Liverpool cries that defenders are trying to mark him or about fullbacks not supporting with Pampers nappies, because he's such a good player that he finds a way.
Ronaldo always use to get double triple marked in his prime with defenders literally trying to break his legs every week, yet he still was such a talent that he found a way around it. I don't see that happening with this guy.
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He’s been slightly better recently but the fact we are talking about how we have to buy 1, 2, 3 players with specific attributes for a £75m player to work with and be any useful for the team is quite concerning. But at least he’s gone from being really bad to being just average or even good at times, so chances are he will turn it around when the team gets better as well.
No. You payed 75m to sign one of the world's most promising and talented attacking players who is still only 21. You've got other things to worry about than Sancho. Sancho is one thing not to worry about.
No, sorry, but it is not concerning at all. Football is a team game and, like any other team, it needs cohesion.
You can buy a 500 mil player for that left wing; if he has no left back behind him, he's useless.
Lots of madness in this thread. It’s a team game. Dude was isolated to a fukn T. Very, very few players can create without any type of support or movement around them.
Most of the game he gets the ball, surrounded by 2-3 opposition players, without anyone in sight. Where is the receiver, where was the movement to drag the defence? By no means a good game from him though, but not exactly shocking either. This was a team, shutting down a bunch of individuals. Have we seen that before?
Most of the game he gets the ball, surrounded by 2-3 opposition players, without anyone in sight. Where is the receiver, where was the movement to drag the defence? By no means a good game from him though, but not exactly shocking either. This was a team, shutting down a bunch of individuals. Have we seen that before?
An athlete of a left back that runs up and down the pitch makes a world of difference. Lodi is an example of that, there's no willingness to overlap from Shaw or Telles, for Shaw it seems like a chore for him, for Telles he's not physically fast or capable off the ball.
That Lodi fella is very energetic!
You mean we spunked 75m on one of the worlds most overhyped attacking players since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. I remember that guy was suppose to be England's future with world class potential and ridiculous figures were thrown about for him. The same excuse of ''oh he's only 21'' was trotted out for the likes of Rashford and look how that turned out. Saka is 20 years old and look how he performs in comparison week in week out for Arsenal. Age is no excuse, mbappe was destroying teams at 21 if you want to put him up there as the world's most promising talent. Also ompare him to Phil Foden at the same age and there is no comparison. Those players saka, foden and mbappe are difference makers, not excuse makers. They don't need special concessions and modifications for them to play well and thrive.
And yes do need to worry about him because instead of going for a CDM in the summer we went for this guy who we have to find a place for in the team even though he is as weak as a feather on the ball, has no explosive speed and goes MIA when we go up against good defences whilst being on 250k per week.
Now we as fans are left to having to resort to scapegoating fullbacks for this guy in order to justify his below par performances and making excuses for him. When you pay 75 million it shouldn't matter if the guy gets played on the left or the right. All I hear is that he has to have the right environment, the right manager/coach, the right players around him for him to put in a good game.
I think there is good reason why he didn't make the first eleven in the England squad at the Euro's and it's sure as hell wasn't because'' he's only 21''.
It wasn't just about Valencia being dynamic, at that period we used to create triangles and overload the right side with the help of Herrera. Actually, we did the same on the other side with worse players in Blind, Fellaini, and Young. We had a bit of that under Mourinho too with Pogba, Shaw, and Martial. That seems to have gone totally from our tactics in the last couple of years.
Sancho was alone yesterday being pressed by 2 or 3 players countless times with little help from his teammates.
Agreed and also a focal point in attack where he come in off the left and link up with.
@Mickeza is right, it's easy enough to pick Sancho apart for losing the ball but Telles/Shaw offer next to no support in continuously overlapping/underlapping so he's got to beat 2-3 men everytime. He also gets no support off Fred, whoever is playing the no.10 role and our striker, this is where his game thrives, in the small pockets and playing quick pass and move football. He can also play on the counter, like he showed for his assist against Spurs but again, we don't have the midfielder who's willing to put the ball over the top and this isn't just for Sancho but last night Ronaldo and Elanga attempted to run in behind to not see the ball come their way.
I said it when we signed him and the summer we didn't, he's going to need a full back who'll support him all the time if we're to get the best out of him, like Hakimi did. We cannot expect him to do it all on his own when given the ball, he isn't a miracle worker.
Yeah don't understand the criticism.
In my opinion, 75m for that player was an absolute bargain. You're stuck with views about football that might have been true in the early 2000s but not anymore. Pace is vastly, vastly overrated. And Sancho isn't even slow to begin with. I think you should try to broaden your horizon a bit. Your tactical nous seems to stop after double and triple marking players. Your team isn't good enough currently to not be neutralized by a cynical and very cohesive unit that Atletico is. You need much better ball retention, poitional play etc. for that to work. You aren't there yet and once you are, Sancho will show what he's showing against weaker opposition against stronger teams as well.
I guarantee you that Diaz would've looked shit for you yesterday, too. And not only he would but basically every player. I think it's time people understand that there are no players anymore who can play well when your team is dominating. Even cracks like Neymar, Messi, Mbappe or Cristiano have looked completely anonymous when the opposition team managed to dominate their own in the past 5-6 years. Even Cristiano in his prime didn't touch the ball when matched up aganst Pep's Barcelona. Atletico simply was the better and more cohesive unit yesterday. And that's fine, they've been coached by an elite coach for over a decade and are probably the best of the bunch when it comes to neutralizing teams. Move on and ask yourself how you can improve as a team (not necessarily individually). Because no matter who you would have put in Sancho's place yesterday, it wouldn't have changed the utcome of the game.
I think people need to temper expectations a bit, he’s visibly progressing well but it’s gradual. Just because he’s had a handful of good games he’s not suddenly turned into a 24 year old C.Ronaldo.
Pretty much this. I love how he’s progressing and been our best player recently. But his lack of explosiveness gives a bit of frustration. He has a nice trick or body feint but his average acceleration makes it easy for defenders to recover. My fear would be defenders will work out how to drop off him and just not dive into his tricks. It’s easier to plan against than someone who has raw pace and acceleration.
Didn’t the “scouts” see this when they bloody signed him. Pace is vital in todays game. The scousers have just signed that lad from Portugal for a third of the fee and his on another planet.
It seems we just sign players that have been rated highly in FIFA!
So we paid for someone that other teams need 2 or 3 defenders to mark him. And that's a bad thing?
The problem yesterday was that Telles didn't step in. Yeah, Sancho is not Messi who at his peak could deal with double and triple marking, but even when Messi had issues, other players were stepping in.
This is how it looked to me too, we're too slow to get the ball to him, once he receives it I'm not sure what we expect. There was one player preventing him going down the line, another preventing him going inside and a third to close him down. Of course our diligent midfielders were...somewhere else and Telles isn't fast enough.
In theory that overload creates space for someone else, but when the someone else is McFred its going backwards, and unfortunately Elanga just isn't that good (yet). Basically, man-mark Sancho and Bruno and United pose no threat whatsoever.
I'll raise you, 90 on Pogba, 80 on Slabhead.
Telles gave him no option multiple times when he was being marked by 2-3 players. With Bruno doing whatever the hell he wanted, i cannot blame Sancho for not being able to make a difference.
But, but … if €75m can’t buy you a CL final straight off the bat, where is football heading?
State of this post. You accuse our scouts, who could rightly be criticized for a myriad of reasons, of being reliant on FIFA but then blabber on about how pace is the most important attribute...Sancho is quick enough to be a top player, however, he has been a tad underwhelming this year. Instead of getting so emotional and irrational about the whole thing I remind myself that he is 21 years old, playing his first season in a new league, and, most importantly playing for a completely dysfunctional team. He has shown enough this season, and in the past for Dortmund, to be confident that he will be a success.
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Sancho is a baller. Has the technical ability up there with the best. He doesn't need pace but he does need a full back to help support him in offensive actions and a number 10 or cf that can link up play and keep the ball in tight spaces. Atm we provide neither of those options for him.
I don't know what people expect. Only Messi and prime CR7 can break down those 3 Atletico defenders in the low bloc on their own. We got an amazing young player not a miracle worker.
I don't know what people expect. Only Messi and prime CR7 can break down those 3 Atletico defenders in the low bloc on their own. We got an amazing young player not a miracle worker.
Sancho's first season at United is very similar to Havertz's first season at Chelsea. Slow start, change of management, flashes of that exciting talent. He'll be fine. Even in what you'd class as an underwhelming season for him, he's been pretty exciting to watch at times.
He needs to stop trying to dribble past players.... he cannot do it, and lost the ball every time last night.
Sancho has been excellent recently but Atletico is a tough game for any attacking player of his kind. Much better players than him have struggled against them.
Ha I don't think anyone was getting emotional here pal, just discussing a player's perceived limitations.
Sancho is quick enough to be a top player, however, he has been a tad underwhelming this year. Instead of getting so emotional and irrational about the whole thing I remind myself that he is 21 years old, playing his first season in a new league, and, most importantly playing for a completely dysfunctional team. He has shown enough this season, and in the past for Dortmund, to be confident that he will be a success.
I agree it is frustrating to see their new lads hit the ground running, but I would put that down to the oceans of quality between the two managers, other teammates, system, optimism, culture around the clubs, etc. etc. I am fairy certain that if we could set it up in the matrix where Pool signed Sancho and we signed the Columbian dude, we would be lamenting a player with loads of pace and not much else, and would be sad that they signed another gem full of quality and getting loads of assists for Saha and Mane.
Volley at the far post needed to hit the target. You know when Simeone's teams go into lockdown that it'll be hard to break them down. You need to take your chances. Jadon didn't even make the keeper work.
He was being marked by about 3 players each time he had the ball, no one was supporting him. At least he tried to do something with the ball. He’s probably one of our best dribblers and he’s the best in tight spaces but he can’t do it all on his own.
Indeed. The suggestions that pace is the only attribute that matters, and that we scout players based on FIFA ratings were truly worthwhile.
Regarding the Luis Diaz example. You do realise that it's harder to continuously commit two (or even three) defenders on one guy when the guys next to him are Robertson, Mané, and Salah as opposed to the threat of the guys surrounding Sancho on the pitch?
In order to avoid him being doubled up on (and he's going to be as long as we keep playing left backs who are too lazy to overlap and offer options) we need to get more quality around him. No player in the world can successfully dribble his way out of a double or triple marking job, and even less a player that never was an explosive dribbler.
While a younger Cristiano was better equipped to deal with that type of attention due to his attributes (and being one of the two best players to ever play the game which is a high bar to set for Sancho), he also had the help of having Evra constantly bombing up the left wing and Rooney/Tevez/Saha occupying defenders with their movement in and around the box.
No team is just going to sit there and "give" him space. Space is created and earned by off-the-ball movement and relies on having players willing to make a run even if it doesn't end up with them getting the ball every time, and we simply do not have that. If Shaw isn't getting on the end of a through ball then he just doesn't bother overlapping and just sits 20 yards behind Sancho waiting for him to do something with the ball. Telles was guilty of that too last night on a couple occasions, even if he's more willing to go forward and ahead of Sancho.
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