Manchester United veteran Teddy Sheringham was “surprised” by Erik ten Hag and Jadon Sancho’s public dispute.
Ten Hag said after United’s 3-1 loss at Arsenal on Sunday that he omitted Sancho from the matchday squad owing to the player’s poor performance in training. Only hours later, Sancho issued a social media post disputing his manager’s assertions.
Sheringham has now questioned Ten Hag for letting the dressing room conflict to be made public, while claiming that Sir Alex Ferguson handled with similar problems “in-house” during his reign.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the former United striker said: “I said at the start of last season that Erik ten Hag had the toughest job in world football. I still think it’s up there because Manchester United fans expect to be winning stuff and when they’re not, the question marks are there. It seems there is some disturbance in the camp as well now. He needs to sort that out. I’m surprised he came out in the public and questioned Jadon Sancho. He must have his reasons for that and he wants him to liven up.”
When asked if Sir Alex would have taken a similar approach to Ten Hag, Sheringham added: “No, not at all. Very, very rarely anyway. The more you can keep things in-house, the more you can control them. Now with social media, people are going to have their say. It just brings more hype around the situation. I’m surprised that it has happened.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Sheringham is not the only former United star to comment on the saga, with Ten Hag facing criticism for his failure to deal the situation privately. Louis Saha slammed the Dutch manager for his “unnecessary” comments, while ex-goalkeeper Ben Foster claimed that Sir Alex would have banished Sancho from the squad.
IN THREE PHOTOS:(C)Getty ImagesGettyGetty
WHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED? The Red Devils will be back in action after the international break when they face Brighton at Old Trafford on September 16.