Managers can do what they want - that’s not been questioned, when/if successful, they are rightfully lauded for it - when adding unnecessary distractions/unwanted conversations then it should also be recognised they caused it. Mourinho has seen great success throughout his career doing so, but it also has also led to him falling out with players and ultimately ending up sacked.
This has worked? He was already not selecting the player, he could have just continued not to select him instead of inviting increasing media scrutiny, confusion among fans and potentially tanking the resale value of a player who’s sale is likely needed to bolster his funds. All in the back of spending the entire preseason playing said player as a false 9 - in which he looked good, by the way - to then start the season and never playing him there once, and United having its worst start to a prem season. Effective management.
For clarification - again - this is a pointless exercise. These circular conversations won’t change my mind and I’m not trying to change yours per se.
If these discussions are pointless then why are you in here discussing your point? It's a discussion forum, this is literally the point.
So you don't feel that a non-selected £80m Jadon Sancho would not draw scrutiny from the media? I hate to break it to you but the reason Ten Hag was asked the question in the first place was because he literally didn't select Sancho for the Arsenal game, and that was one game. You think the media were just going to ignore Sancho not being in the squad for weeks? This is United you're talking about.
The bolded part: first of all, resale value is bollocks, this is Manchester United, this is your end destination if you're a great player, there's no 'resale' or profit to be made on players who leave United because they leave when they're no longer the best players in the world, and that's the way it should be. Second point, you've got a player who just won't come to training on time, won't conform to standards, and won't do as he's told, yet he should somehow be involved in the squad? What message does that send to the lads that are doing what they're told? How would you feel if you were watching your manager select someone who won't do the basics while you don't get a sniff? You'd lose all respect for him and the trust is gone because he's obviously full of shit. Then the manager has lost the trust of the squad and is rightly sacked as performances get worse.
These players will get you sacked as a manager so who gives a feck if the fans are a bit confused? It doesn't take anyone special to work this situation out, just some life experience within a management role.
And yes, this has been successful and effective because believe me when I say Sancho would gladly sit out his contract and do his usual shite 5/10 performances for the rest of his United career, maybe even get a new contract at some point, but now he can't do that, he's been forced to seek a move. Shite staff will always successfully hide when the managers are weak, as soon as someone comes in and tries to make people accountable the toxic staff leave. It's a tale as old as time.