And what of Sancho's incredible performances ?
No, but Ten Hag and the club presumably have a pretty good idea, and they don't seem to be acting as if he does, so I think it's reasonable to assume this has nothing to do with mental health, and everything to do with Sancho simply being petulant, immature and unprofessional. There's certainly nothing that suggests otherwise, especially given Sancho's history.
I do kind of agree - it's why ten Hag's hands are tied, but maybe there's a lesson for him there on how NOT to get into this situation in the first place.
I don’t think it is. It’s not about the apology per se but whether Sancho is committed enough to the project to take a hard look at himself and accept responsibility for the situation. If he won’t, he sure as hell won’t take responsibility on the pitch (which he basically confirms every time he plays).
Everyone is entitled to an opinion but I just find this insane - I'm shocked there's people defending a player who is allegedly not bothering turning up to training and playing video games until the early morning like a 13 year old.
Mate, this is an absolutely awful take. I can only assume you really don't have much experience of mental health and the responses of big organisations to it. Don't take it personally, but honestly, try to find a way to understand this issue better.
Sancho was pretty good in pre-season tbf and never really got his chance to show he could deliver once the actual season began. I agree that his performances for the most part have been very poor though. Still, so have Antony's and many other players. It's good that Antony presses, but that alone doesn't justify starting repeatedly. You need to deliver end product too. You could get loads of cheap crap players who run if that was enough. Dan James would still be a starter with this mindset. Sancho did still outscore Antony last season while also producing more chances and assists in less minutes despite being poor himself.
Both of these players are not what we want at the club. We'll be fine, perfectly fine this season without the both of them.
There's absolutely no denying that Antony has gotten a longer leash and been allowed more poor performances than Sancho (and several others). That's why this situation is a bit more complex than it's being portrayed by some; in accusing ten Hag of favouritism, Sancho absolutely has a point.
Again, ridiculously cynical. You must think Ten Hag is a complete dickhead then. And this also assumes that the rest of the squad would be fine with their team mate being treated like this while struggling with his mental health.
Seems rational, the vast majority of people could. So how do you respond to it if he genuinely can't? Do you just choose to not understand it? Or do you wonder if there's something going on that you maybe don't understand, but could if you tried?
It wouldn't even take a huge amount of effort for you to understand how you may have got this badly wrong. Please don't be one of those people who feels they have to double down on an already ignorant stance. Hell, it's not even a criticism of you personally, you are doing what half the country does. As a nation we're grossly under-informed about things like this, and repeatedly make the same mistakes and assumptions that you just have.
But even Antony at his least productive worse, he’s delivered more of what Ten Hag clearly wants. The two aren’t even competing for the same position anyway as it seems Sancho doesn’t want to play on the right anyway.
Not saying Sancho hasn't been wrong in this also. Obviously he should be turning up for training on time (the rest of what he does in his spare time I don't care, plenty of Utd legends went out partying all the time, so I don't see why playing computer games is worse).
You couldn't be more condescending if you tried.
He didn’t though? Antony scored 7 goals last year. Not great, but Sancho also got 7 and has scored 10 goals in all competitions in 2 full seasons. If/When Antony is back in the squad he’ll be more productive than Sancho whilst putting 150% more effort.
Sure, but at the same time... what can they actually do? They should support the player and help them through it of course while they're employed by you. As we did last season for whatever happened. But it doesn't mean you get a free pass at showing up late or playing like shit or training like shit. The bar for professionalism doesn't change if someone has mental health issues. They still need to keep up the same level as others if they want to play the same as others. How they are handled outside the pitch is a different matter.
I was just counting the PL because it's easier to track mins (and Antony played for Ajax last season which makes it harder to use fbref). In the PL, Sancho got 6 goals and 3 assists, with an expected goal involvement of 0.45 per 90, while Antony got 4 goals and 2 assists with an expected goal involvement of 0.40 per 90. I can see that for all competitions, even including Antony's Ajax games, Sancho still has a higher expected goal involvement per 90.
If those players perform well in training and are out there giving 100% effort on the pitch as well then it's hard to displace them unless other players are doing the same along with outplayed them on the pitch.
Apologies, my aim is not to be condescending.
I'm a bit wary of this argument. Why wouldn't the manager have favourites? Hes going to rate some players more than others.
Well that's true of absolutely everyone. But if there's no evidence of it, why speculate? Especially when there's a mountain of evidence pointing to him simply being immature and unprofessional.
I still stand by what I said when ETH first made those comments in the press conference, don't say that shit in public. It doesn't help things and it caused this circus. Keep the criticism behind closed doors. It's not like we had a strong bench that game, it was clearly done to send a message. Sancho undoubtedly made his social media post in response to all the angry messages and abuse he was getting on social media following ETH's comments. Wrong thing to do, but in the moment, I get why he did it, especially when he feels like he isn't being treated the same way others are (whether that's reality or not).
I think we have to include work rate, tracking back etc... too. I guess depends how much that matters to the manager/fans.
We don't know how good these players' levels are in training. Maybe Antony's great in training. He also might not be. He certainly hasn't been good when he's played for the most part. ETH ultimately insisted on this signing being made, and it cost the club massive money. He has other motives to play Antony than just performances and effort. In many ways, it reflects badly on him to waste so much money on a player that then isn't good enough to play. Sancho in comparison wasn't signed by him, so isn't a reflection on ETH if he doesn't play.
Because your original post said
Him having mental health issues wouldn’t mean he’s not in the wrong. You can have bad mental health and still be in the wrong about stuff.
Ya, work rate is still important for sure. Don't think either option has offered enough really to be a starter for Utd. I do think Antony's been given too much game time considering his performances though. If anything, I'd like to see Mount there instead of the cm role he was bought for. I could see him working much better on the right. Pellistri hasn't been given as many chances to prove himself as he should imo, and I'd say the same for Garnacho this season. So even if we ignore Sancho, these are other players that similarly haven't been given the same chances as Antony. I suspect it will be a similar situation with Diallo when he's back fit also.
Ten Hag - "Do better in training."
Let the guy who is paid more call the shots then. Player wins almost every time.
He hasn't done anything for the club, not one thing. If Sancho is classed as having done something for the club then our standards have dropped off a cliff. Scoring 6 goals last season isn't anything to rave about when you come with the reputation he has. His contribution to the club or lack of has been embarrassing.
He was bang average in pre season. The problem with people is Sancho does a couple nice touches in a game and start acting as if he's become Wayne Rooney in his prime. I can count Sancho's good games for us that he's started in on one hand.
