Sancho says he is 'scapegoat' after Ten Hag blast

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said Jadon Sancho was dropped for the English Premier League game at Arsenal on Sunday because of below-par displays in training, sparking an angry reaction from the winger in a social media post in which he claimed he was being made a "scapegoat".

The 23-year-old Sancho did not travel to north London for the match at Emirates Stadium, where two stoppage-time goals by Arsenal consigned United to a 3-1 loss.

Ten Hag said after the match that Sancho, who came off the bench in United's first three matches of the season, was left out because of "his performances in training".

"You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices in the front line," the Dutch coach said. "So for this game he was not selected."

Sancho took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say he has "conducted myself in training very well this week" and he didn't want "people saying things that (are) completely untrue".

"I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won't go into," Sancho wrote. "l've been a scapegoat for a long time which isn't fair!

"All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and (am) grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!"

Sancho has struggled for consistent form since moving to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.

He did not feature from Oct 22 until Feb 1 last season, a period that saw the England forward watch the World Cup from afar and undertake an individual winter fitness program in the Netherlands.

Agencies via Xinhua