[Pogue Mahone]

We've had less possession under ETH than the team bottom of the league, the team third from bottom, Aston Villa and Leeds! It isn't some esoteric magic. It's ludicrous to suggest that the most expensively assembled side in the league needs to learn how to keep possession.

Ludicrous? It’s a statement of fact. That’s exactly what they need to do. We’ve already seen examples of the sort of football ETH wants us to play. Scoring goals after a passing move in which all eleven players touched the ball. The problem we have is getting this drilled into muscle memory after years of a much more reactive approach.

Whether we can play this possession football higher up the pitch or mainly in deeper areas will depend on how good we get at doing it and how strong the opposition is. But we’re a long way off it at the moment, hence we tend to get pinned back every time we’ve played the stronger teams. Which isn’t helped by repeated schoolboy errors in possession from the players in the supposedly most skilful positions on the pitch.

 

[Doracle]

He plays better as a RW.

He has less time to dribble and cut in so he makes decisions quicker on his right foot - well because he has to.

He also seems to have a very limited left foot so, combined with his lack of pace, doesn’t have any option of getting to the byline from the left. Rashford’s left foot isn’t great either but he can go outside a full back. The only thing Sancho can do is cut in and it’s very predictable.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Its the absolute lack of threat that he brings that depresses me. In a game like City you need wide players that are goign to push City back and make their wide players nervous. Sancho does not do that. All this BS about a system player, I cant see it working.

Yuh , cos he’s not a wide player blessed with pace or good ball carrying skills he’s very easy to defend against a lot of the time. But yeah unfortunately starting to think maybe this one just won’t work out. Like a few said if he showed a bit more aggression in his play it may actually help a little but he looks disinterested a lot.

 

[Sarni]

I still don't see what he's good at. Said last season that a loan would serve him well, maybe he'd get back some confidence but not sure anymore any PL team would actually be that keen on having him as a permanent fixture in their side. I also mentioned we could have offered him to Ajax on loan when we were buying Antony and that suggestion was also laughed at, I think it would have actually been a brilliant move. He needs to rebuild his confidence somewhere else as he is not even trying to do anything here. His go-to move is standing on the ball for five seconds and passing it backwards.

But of course if we buy him exactly the left back, central midfielder, forward and creative midfielder that he needs to succeed he'll be absolutely amazing.

 

[Silas]

No dawg in him. He can have all the composure and technical ability in the world but if he has no application to play with some intensity there’s no point in him.

For real. Biggest issue by far – he just seems to coast. Hopefully having a striker like Martial to link up with helps, but it ain’t looking good.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

I still don't see what he's good at. Said last season that a loan would serve him well, maybe he'd get back some confidence but not sure anymore any PL team would actually be that keen on having him as a permanent fixture in their side. I also mentioned we could have offered him to Ajax on loan when we were buying Antony and that suggestion was also laughed at, I think it would have actually been a brilliant move. He needs to rebuild his confidence somewhere else as he is not even trying to do anything here. His go-to move is standing on the ball for five seconds and passing it backwards.

But of course if we buy him exactly the left back, central midfielder, forward and creative midfielder that he needs to succeed he'll be absolutely amazing.

You don't chase a player for 2 years, sign him for 72 mil, then loan him out after a season. I agree at this point he looks like a flop, but that kind of treatment would almost guarantee it.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

Did not a single person at United look at the type of football we play, then look at the type of football Sancho needs to thrive in and say, hey, this doesn't match? Shocking level of incompetence at this club.

 

[Thebaldingbob]

Over rated and over priced.
Like most of the players we’ve bought recently.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Did not a single person at United look at the type of football we play, then look at the type of football Sancho needs to thrive in and say, hey, this doesn't match? Shocking level of incompetence at this club.

Ole's signings in general were all pretty ill thought.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

Ole's signings in general were all pretty ill thought.

I never want an ex player as manager again, because it pains me to make this next statement. It will take years to undo the damage that Ole did to this club.

 

[House Mkhitaryan]

I have been a bigtime supporter of his since before we signed him - even getting his jersey before this season, my first in years. However, yesterday really might have been the turning point for me. He has some skills and is a good player, but he just does not seem to have something, whether it's the mentality, concentration, athleticism, work-rate or what. Really disappointing. So many mistakes yesterday and an overall lack of fire. He just doesn't seem to play with any urgency at all. The exact opposite of what you see from every City player.

The worst for me was when the ball popped up in the City box next to the keeper, where he was the only one around and the ball fell to him and he seemingly half-heartedly let it bounce off his foot out for a goal kick or offside call. He looked to be offside, but on replay (here in America at least), they showed it and the commenters pointed out that he probably wasn't offside. Control that properly and he's one on one with the keeper from about 5 yards out.

 

[Anderson_7_]

I'm under the impression that he would run back to Dortmund the first chance he get. He's out of his depth and he knows it.

 

[DarkXaero]

Like others have echoed, its a mentality issue more than anything. You don't need blistering pace to be an impactful wide player in this league. He simply does not have the mentality. On his season form so far, he deserves to be dropped, even if the options behind him are not good. Sancho is the type of player who would probably look really good playing for a dominant team like City, but at United right now, he's dragging us down with his approach. Antony might have not done much so far, but there's a clear difference in mentality between Antony and Sancho.

 

[Sarni]

You don't chase a player for 2 years, sign him for 72 mil, then loan him out after a season. I agree at this point he looks like a flop, but that kind of treatment would almost guarantee it.

Chelsea have loaned out many expensive players, sometimes they returned and played fine for them, sometimes they left but they were at least able to recoup part of the fee.

What will most likely happen with Sancho at this rate is he will be relegated to bench quite soon, become a bit part player for us and eventually move on for £20m or so to Everton/Villa within the league or end up somewhere in France/Germany. He has shown so little so far that it would take a major turnaround for him to become a success here. Even his best performances to date weren’t even that amazing. Dan James did better in his first 12 months with us than he has, and he was quite poor himself.

 

[HookedOnAPhelan]

Yeah, I'm starting to give up him now too. No fire, no desire, no fight. He wasn't alone in that yesterday obviously, but it's a common theme with him.

Unfortunately he's on monster wages so we'll struggle to get rid.

 

[MikeKing]

Like I said, people will continue to make excuses for him. Antony was out there in the same conditions and tried to do as much as he can. Sancho was a liability not because of the team but because he's unreliable as I mentioned.

He has 8 goals and only two assists for us so far. That should tell you something, when he previously had 20 assist 3 seasons in a row. In the time with us, our attack has been bad, without him. The fast paced counter attacking we've seen with Dan James, Rashford and Martial disappeared when we tried to keep possession a lot more and signed Ronaldo. No structure or base for him to thrive in, and it has been constantly changed. 3 managers since he arrived. I'd say being patient and making excuses is allowed at this point.

At his age Pogba was still at Juventus. I kind of get the comparison to Pogba in a sense, because they both had great stats before coming to us, and could not replicate their form. This is only his second season at the club, I don't think you can foreshadow his growth from here on out based on just a few similarities with Pogba.

 

[Member 125352]

Never rated him, especially not at that fee. He has been toying with peoples mind because he looks silky on the ball but he does nothing with it. The boy doesn't have the confidence to dribble a man. He doesn't have the hunger to score goals. He passes the ball backwards at all times. If we want to get more out of him maybe we can try playing closer to Antony perhaps they can combine. His short passing game should be good.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Did not a single person at United look at the type of football we play, then look at the type of football Sancho needs to thrive in and say, hey, this doesn't match? Shocking level of incompetence at this club.

The idea though is surely to move towards that style of football?

 

[Strootman's Finger]

The idea though is surely to move towards that style of football?

Understandable, but buying Sancho as the first piece in that puzzle is like putting a giant spoiler on a stock Honda Civic. You need to build a solid defense that can play a high line, build a midfield that can retain possession and create opportunities, then buy the flair players to get onto those opportunities.

 

[BerryBerryShrew]

Whatever his limitations, I can't understand posters saying to drop Sancho because of his lack of workrate/desire/intensity while at the same time advocating replacing him with Rashford- as if Sir Marcus really has all of those qualities in abundance. If we really want a bit of fight and pace on the left wing, then give Garnacho a go.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Understandable, but buying Sancho as the first piece in that puzzle is like putting a giant spoiler on a stock Honda Civic. You need to build a solid defense that can play a high line, build a midfield that can retain possession and create opportunities, then buy the flair players to get onto those opportunities.

I don’t think you need to convince anyone on here we’ve been wayward in the transfer market.

 

[Lebo]

Hmm. My “wanting him” was offset by:

1. A long-standing scepticism about how big-money signings turn out at United (hint: not very well)

I thought about this until I came to the conclusion that we like wasting money. Of the players we signed, how many of them actually looked the part in European competitions?

Your big money signings should be people who kicked behinds in Europe genuinely. Not some player who happened to lead that charts somewhere. How many players did we sign that were the best players in their teams or among the best in the champions league?
1. Di Maria. Was never Real’s best player. Personally I rated Nani higher when he was still playing outwide. Real wanted to get rid

2. Lukaku. Missing too many basics to be an elite footballer

3. Pogba. This one failing is a mystery. He was the type of elite signings I would actually advocate for

4. Casemiro. 4th best RM midfielder turning 30.

5. Sancho. What he is doing now is exactly how he was performing in the champions league and for England(the only time I watched him)

6 Maguire. Was he genuinely one of the best defenders in Europe?

7. AWB. Didn’t know much about him until he played for us but I could tell from that moment that none of the champions league contenders would bother signing him. We paid close to record fee for a fullback who is not better than Telles.

Right now we signed Antony for 100m. I’ll be honest I haven’t watched much of him before but I haven’t seen a 100m player yet . Not for Brazil either.

Yes our record signings are bad but that’s because of who we sign. How many of these record signings were genuine contenders for best player in the world excluding Messi and Ronaldo?
The question we should be asking is if this player doesn’t improve, are we happy to pay for these level of performances? We are probably the only big team that pay for future growth in transfers really.

 

[Giggsyking]

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

I thought about this until I came to the conclusion that we like wasting money. Of the players we signed, how many of them actually looked the part in European competitions?

Your big money signings should be people who kicked behinds in Europe genuinely. Not some player who happened to lead that charts somewhere. How many players did we sign that were the best players in their teams or among the best in the champions league?
1. Di Maria. Was never Real’s best player. Personally I rated Nani higher when he was still playing outwide. Real wanted to get rid

2. Lukaku. Missing to many basics to be an elite footballer

3. Pogba. This one failing is a mystery. He was the type of elite signings I would actually advocate for

4. Casemiro. 4th best RM midfielder turning 30.

5. Sancho. What he is doing now is exactly how he was performing in the champions league and for England(the only time I watched him)

6 Maguire. Was he genuinely one of the best defenders in Europe?

7. AWB. Didn’t know much about him until he played for us but I could tell from that moment that none of the champions league contenders would bother signing him. We paid close to record fee for a fullback who is not better than Telles.

Right now we signed Antony for 100m. I’ll be honest I haven’t watched much of him before but I haven’t seen a 100m player yet . Not for Brazil either.

Yes our record signings are bad but that’s because of who we sign. How many of these record signings were genuine contenders for best player in the world excluding Messi and Ronaldo?
The question we should be asking is if this player doesn’t improve, are we happy to pay for these level of performances? We are probably the only big team that pay for future growth in transfers really.[/list]

Di Maria was easily good enough, he just couldn’t settle in England. His wife gave out shit constantly about Manchester and then they were robbed in their house. His season was fine if not outstanding. It happens.

Also Casemiro has barely played yet, Fabinho barely played in the beginning for Liverpool. He was MOTM in the Super Cup and great in the CL so bit much to be saying 4th best midfielder. If United bid £60 million for Kroos or Modric they’d be gone too. Real just judged it too much to refuse. You’re talking about buying players that excel in Europe and Casemiro is probably the best DM in the CL over the past 5 or 6 years?

 

[Irwin99]

In fairness Rashford and Bruno had a few of those situations too where they messed up a very rare opportunity for the break with a poor first touch or bad pass. The counter had to be so precise and efficient on Sunday and unfortunately it wasn't.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I never expect Sancho as pacey wingers to be fair. I seriously thought we were getting the new Juan Mata. Turn up he can't pass and can't cross the ball. So he is neither wide playmaker that can pass or cross or winger that can take on players, what is he? The worst part is his work rate is poor and he has no aggression in his game. I seriously don't know what he can offer to the team.

 

[TheNewEra]

Terrible game but he's a top player. Those writing him off look at his age and ability.

I think he's had a brilliant season so far. Many of the players had an off game versus city.

 

[Revaulx]

I thought about this until I came to the conclusion that we like wasting money. Of the players we signed, how many of them actually looked the part in European competitions?

Your big money signings should be people who kicked behinds in Europe genuinely. Not some player who happened to lead that charts somewhere. How many players did we sign that were the best players in their teams or among the best in the champions league?
1. Di Maria. Was never Real’s best player. Personally I rated Nani higher when he was still playing outwide. Real wanted to get rid

2. Lukaku. Missing too many basics to be an elite footballer

3. Pogba. This one failing is a mystery. He was the type of elite signings I would actually advocate for

4. Casemiro. 4th best RM midfielder turning 30.

5. Sancho. What he is doing now is exactly how he was performing in the champions league and for England(the only time I watched him)

6 Maguire. Was he genuinely one of the best defenders in Europe?

7. AWB. Didn’t know much about him until he played for us but I could tell from that moment that none of the champions league contenders would bother signing him. We paid close to record fee for a fullback who is not better than Telles.

Right now we signed Antony for 100m. I’ll be honest I haven’t watched much of him before but I haven’t seen a 100m player yet . Not for Brazil either.

Yes our record signings are bad but that’s because of who we sign. How many of these record signings were genuine contenders for best player in the world excluding Messi and Ronaldo?
The question we should be asking is if this player doesn’t improve, are we happy to pay for these level of performances? We are probably the only big team that pay for future growth in transfers really.

All true. Most of these players were not only way off being consistently brilliant; they also had less than ideal mentality which resulted in their not being able to cope with the level of expectation their fees entailed.

Casemiro I have no idea about, except a worry about the possibility of physical decline (see also Matić, Alexis Sanchez). From what I’ve seen of Antony so far, I don’t think he’s worth the fee but he seems to have the strength of character to not let that become a burden. Here’s hoping…

 

[Doracle]

In fairness Rashford and Bruno had a few of those situations too where they messed up a very rare opportunity for the break with a poor first touch or bad pass. The counter had to be so precise and efficient on Sunday and unfortunately it wasn't.

Bruno had a couple of chances to put Rashford away but they were tough chances. This was a very simple pass where Sancho made completely the wrong decision. If he plays the simple 5 yard pass it’s highly likely that Bruno commits Ake and puts Rashford through 1 on 1.

 

[croadyman]

Yet another wasted transfer so I make that Maguire (£80m) VDB (£35m) and now Sancho (£75m). We could have used that on De Gea replacement, top class CM, winger who works for team and a proper ST too

 

[finneh]

I still don't see what he's good at. Said last season that a loan would serve him well, maybe he'd get back some confidence but not sure anymore any PL team would actually be that keen on having him as a permanent fixture in their side. I also mentioned we could have offered him to Ajax on loan when we were buying Antony and that suggestion was also laughed at, I think it would have actually been a brilliant move. He needs to rebuild his confidence somewhere else as he is not even trying to do anything here. His go-to move is standing on the ball for five seconds and passing it backwards.

But of course if we buy him exactly the left back, central midfielder, forward and creative midfielder that he needs to succeed he'll be absolutely amazing.

Agree completely.

 

[izak]

What is his biggest asset?

 

[Red the Bear]

Maybe we should be looking at incorporating him into the midfield but I doubt that's a good idea either.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I don't know who "PrivilegeMufc" is but this idea that one moment decided the "tone" of the game is fairly nonsensical, especially when it was loose control on one pass. The tone of this game was set when we walked out of the tunnel. The tone was further cemented when Eriksen and McT had nightmares in midfield. The cement dried when Haaland, Foden, and Grealish danced around our fullbacks and basically we got run ragged. There were any number of shit passes and controls from Bruno, McT, Sancho, Eriksen, Rashford, and others.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Bruno had a couple of chances to put Rashford away but they were tough chances. This was a very simple pass where Sancho made completely the wrong decision. If he plays the simple 5 yard pass it’s highly likely that Bruno commits Ake and puts Rashford through 1 on 1.

And then Rashford scuffs his shot, blasts wide, or blazes over the bar. Or maybe miraculously puts it in the net. Look, City took their foot of the gas. The 3 goals we scored were against a b-team that didn't really give two shits.

 

[kthanksbye]

I hope it's not down to poor fitness, even the most average wingers have the ability to beat a man on occasions if not with pace, with skill, he just seems to not attempt anything, his forte is at maneuvering the ball when he's being pressed or when the defenders are recovering to get back into possession, but even that happens occasionally and once, maybe twice, in a move. Then he slows down to a standstill position and can only cut inside and look for a pass. This is a winger who is easy to defend.

It just seems weird to me that he is not even attempting to beat his man on the outside with pace, even if he's not rapid, surely it's not as if he cannot outpace any fullback in the league.

Not doing this creates another problem, defenders will buy a dummy if they're worried about him going on the outside, it's like you have to build a reputation for the defenders to be considering buying it, when you've almost never beaten anyone on the outside, no one is worried about it and no one is getting wrong footed, and you're unable to create any space when you cut inside because the defenders are expecting nothing else.

 

[Telsim]

Starting to seem like Dortmund finessed us quite well. 32-year-old wingers have more intensity to their game. Last season was a freebie, but my patience's running thin now. He needs competition for his position. I can't believe Erik ten Hag would be content with his overall performance this season.

 

[Stacks]

Did not a single person at United look at the type of football we play, then look at the type of football Sancho needs to thrive in and say, hey, this doesn't match? Shocking level of incompetence at this club.

What happened to players being adaptable? Imagine a footballer can only play one style of football. That's crazy. When I was young the players played under all different managers, clubs etc and were expected to perform

 

[Luka Mora]

What happened to players being adaptable? Imagine a footballer can only play one style of football. That's crazy. When I was young the players played under all different managers, clubs etc and were expected to perform

it's a difficult for some of his supporters to come to terms that they're favourite player who they decided was a generational talents is nothing but hype without any substance

Apparently United failed Sancho and didn't give him the right environment, system/tactics, food, upbringing and supplements to thrive

This is donny van de beek all over again, a player who gets given so many excuses based on what he did at his previous club, and apparently we failed to unlock this hidden talent

 

[Frank White]

Terrible game but he's a top player. Those writing him off look at his age and ability.

I think he's had a brilliant season so far. Many of the players had an off game versus city.

Don't know how anyone who as watched this season come to the conclusion Sancho has been brilliant.