JADON SANCHO: As He Was

Ever since his move to Manchester United, there has been a longing to see what had been promised at Borussia Dortmund. A wait for the player that the Red Devils forked over 73 million pounds for.

So I decided to pay him a visit, see what has changed….if it has changed.

My rationale for choosing Leipzig Vs Dortmund (09/01/2021) is twofold. One, Sancho was MOTM this game, coming back into stride after a poor run of form, something we want to see emulated at United. Secondly, I felt Nagelsmann’s Leipzig would be a strong enough opposition to use as a barometer for performance. As of GW15, they had accumulated 31 points and would have gone top of the table had they won this game.

I will be dividing the game into 9 segments of 10 minutes each. This is to clearly visualise Sancho’s impact throughout the game rather than analysing fleeting moments.

MATCH ACTIONS

1–10’

Absolutely nothing to note, Sancho had virtually no touches. Leipzig dominated the ball and had Dortmund pinned back. Sancho’s on the right wing.

11–20’

Same story, Dortmund have been sloppy trying to move out of their half and keep getting punished. Sancho has now interchanged with Reus and is occupying the #10 position.

21–30’

His first touch of note comes around the 21:30’ mark as he drops extremely deep on the right to offer an extra body as Dortmund look to escape the press. He plays a couple one-twos displaying decent close control and composure under pressure.

Four minutes later he plays an extremely sloppy pass to the inside from RW leading to a corner against his team. The corner bears no fruit, instead it allows Dortmund to transition. Sancho is fed a beautiful lofted ball by Reus on the LW with ample space ahead of him. Sancho chooses to slightly cut inside then pass back instead of taking his man on (Sabitzer). A bit of a waste of a transition.

31–40’

Around the 35’ mark Sancho controls the ball in midfield, dribbles to create space between two defenders and provides a lovely release to Reus who further releases Haaland. A couple of minutes later he slips the ball to an underlapping Guerrero who runs into a crowd of defenders. Sancho is playing off the left now.

41’ to HT

At 42:30’ he slips a lovely weighted ball to Reus who has made a run in the left halfspace, Sancho’s best action in this half.

Near the half’s end he loses a couple of duels, noticeable lack of “bite” and aggression.

45–55’

Three minutes into the half he slips Reus in who is making a run through the middle to the left. He repeats the same move with Haaland twice within the next 5 minutes. His involvement in the game has clearly increased this half.

GOAL! Easy tap in at the far post for Sancho following good awareness by Reus, helped by an atrocious defensive structure by Leipzig.

56–65’

Delivers a corner that hits a Leipzig defender, tries to slip in Delaney in the RHS but weight of pass not perfect. His subsequent two actions are a horrible cross from the LW and a loose back pass. Around the 64’ mark he plays a good one-two with Reus but is unable to beat his marker for pace.

66–75’

This segment is where majority of his positive actions occur, starting off with a lovely touch drifting inside and a perfectly weighted through ball to Haaland.

He tracks back well and makes a good interception around the 69’ mark, Dortmund create a half-chance because of it. Couple of minutes later Haaland has the ball in the back of the net following a lovely deep cross by Sancho. I’ll let you watch the sequence.

76’- Substitution

As the game winds down, so does Sancho’s involvement. Following a lovely control from a lofted pass, he wastes time on the wing then passes back. Around the 82’ mark he feeds Haaland in the right channel and receives from him inside the box. He dallies then passes it back to the Norwegian who by that point has been surrounded by Leipzig defenders. That was his final action before being subbed off in the 85th minute.

A FAMILIAR FEELING

Replace the yellow shirt with a red one and nobody would bat an eyelid. One could say that Sancho has had this exact same game for United at one point or the other and they would not be wrong. His good and bad, all was reflected in these 90 minutes with the only difference between then and now being the 2 G/A born out of some lax defending and Haaland being Haaland.

He was neither a pacy winger who would burn his man nor was he a creative monster who would run the game. He was, as he is, a very young player who interprets the game in an extremely unselfish manner. A “waiter” on the pitch who wants to serve everything on a plate for everyone else. Even his dribbles are a means to create enough separation to pick out the next pass rather than bombarding towards goal himself.

Obviously, this solitary game is not a definitive analysis of Sancho’s time at Dortmund, that is beyond the scope of this piece. The aim of this piece then, is to highlight that intrinsically, the boy from Kennington hasn’t changed. Struggled mentally? Probably. But his approach to the game hasn’t shifted, his environment has.

The aim of this piece is also not to talk about the list of externalities that if addressed, can “unlock” Sancho. Mount and Højlund will surely help, so would United sustaining more possession in the opposition’s half. But no matter the changes around him, Sancho will always, by choice, remain the “other guy”.

Let them make that run, I’ll slip them through. In the halfspace? Who can I cut it back to? Goalmouth scramble, let me wait near the edge in case the ball arrives. Patience, watchfulness, servitude. And there is nothing wrong with being this guy, in fact I will argue that every team needs someone like Sancho within their ranks. There is after all, only one ball on the pitch.

The issue then is of the difference between who he was brought in to be and who he actually is. You would expect the squad’s 3rd highest earner to be one who takes the pitch by storm every week, shaping results on their own accord. But that is just not the way Sancho plays this sport. So what do you do? I guess you start off by accepting. You let go of the notion that a different player is confined somewhere within.

After that you assess whether all parties can live with the reality of how it is. In its current state, I don’t think so. So do you move on? Or do you go one *last* round? A final push as a false nine perhaps? The Bald One seems to think so and I’m inclined to agree.

Thank you if you made it till the end :)