Manchester United players almost looked like they had given up as soon as the match against Newcastle United started, such was their lack of intensity.
It led to a dismal 0-1 defeat at St James’ Park, the 10th loss in all competitions this campaign, heaping further pressure on manager Erik ten Hag.
While injuries and poor form have played a major role in such a poor second season, the manager is also not devoid of blame.
The Peoples Person covered a report earlier about a section of the squad being unhappy with the Dutchman’s training methods and tactics.
United players unhappy with ETH
The majority of British media have covered variations of the same news, with The Daily Mirror adding that the players are not too happy with the manager’s insistence on keeping Jadon Sancho out of the squad.
United’s forwards are struggling this season with Antony yet to score or assist, while last season’s top scorer Marcus Rashford has looked like a shadow of his former self.
Anthony Martial continues to disappoint while new signing Rasmus Hojlund has been on fire in the Champions League but is yet to score in the Premier League.
United could have done with someone like Sancho but he remains banished from the first team after a social media spat with the manager where he accused the boss of preferential treatment.
Ten Hag had insisted that the winger would be reintegrated into the first team should he apologise but the Englishman has not yet felt the need to do it.
He has since been removed from the team’s WhatsApp group and is training with the academy and banned from using first-team facilities.
United are said to be looking at ways to sell the former Manchester City academy graduate in January with multiple clubs eyeing a cut-price deal.
As per the report, the former Borussia Dortmund star has been training non-stop and players would prefer if the manager quashes the tiff as it is proving detrimental to the team.
“Sancho continues to train alone, as he has done for the past three months, since disputing Ten Hag’s reasons for omitting him from the squad that lost 3-1 at Arsenal on September 3.
Section of players calling for Sancho to be reintegrated
“Despite being banished to train in the Academy facility, Sancho is said to have maintained his fitness and is “training like a beast” according to one source, with several of his team-mates wanting to see him reintegrated back into Ten Hag’s squad.
“With Rashford, Martial, and Antony all struggling for form, some of United’s players are said to feel Ten Hag’s stubborn stance is misplaced and proving to the detriment of the team.”
There have even been reports that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will discuss with the manager ways in which to solve this issue without moving on such an asset.
It will be interesting to see if these reports come out to be true and if Sancho does indeed come back into the fold.
Ten Hag is not one to mince his words and he will know such media bashing will continue unless he manages to turn around the club’s fortunes in the days to come.