"I’d be embarrassed" - Roy Keane sends harsh Jadon Sancho message, urges Manchester United star to apologize to Erik ten Hag
Manchester United legend Roy Keane has weighed in on the feud between Erik Ten Hag and forward Jadon Sancho. The former midfielder said he would have felt ashamed if his efforts in training were publicly criticized and urged the player to apologize to his manager.
It's been three weeks now since Ten Hag dropped the attacker from the squad that faced Arsenal in the Premier League earlier this month. Speaking in his post-match interview, the tactician explained that the Englishman was dropped because of his poor level in training.
This didn't sit well with the player, who hit back in a social media post and was consequently punished by the club by being banished from the rest of the group.
Reacting to the development, Roy Keane opined that the manager was within his rights to publicly scrutinize the player's performances in training.
"My annoyance with Sancho would be if he is not training properly. Whatever it is about his personality, we are all different," he was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
"I’d be embarrassed, I’d be ashamed of my life if the manager ever came up to me, or even spoke through the media. People say you can’t say stuff about the players through the media, yes you can, you can send messages out to people," he added.
Despite the controversy, Roy Keane believes that Jadon Sancho can still turn his Manchester United career around. That, however, is if he shows humility and apologizes to Erik Ten Hag. He explained:
"If you have got questions marks over this player, he is not training properly and he does turn around and show some sort of humility and says maybe I got it wrong, you can move on very quickly."
"We’ve been in dressing rooms where players have come in and said: 'Sorry lads I have made a mistake' and it is forgotten about very quickly. Football dressing rooms are a strange dynamic. If a player shows they care and they are human, it’s fine, we move on quickly," the Irishman added.
Jadon Sancho's numbers for Manchester United this season
The English winger was largely under-utilized by Erik ten Hag even before their beef came to the fore. From being a starter last season to dropping to a bit-part role this term, Jadon Sancho's status in the squad has dropped rapidly.
So far this term, the winger has made just three appearances for the club across all competitions, with no goal or assist to his name. He's amassed a paltry 76 minutes of playing time, and all his appearances have come from the bench.
The 23-year-old is currently being linked with a departure from the club ahead of the winter transfer window due to his situation at Old Trafford.