Jadon Sancho keeps showing Manchester United why they were right to get rid of him

Self-awareness continues to be one of Jadon Sancho's glaring weaknesses. In a harmless interview with an apparent influencer last week, Sancho was asked what he had learnt from Cristiano Ronaldo when they were teammates at Manchester United.

"Just his mentality," Sancho replied. "How he trains and how he goes into games. It's really inspirational."

Sancho seldom speaks to actual journalists. If he gave that answer to one then he would have been challenged on it.

Sub-standard training form, and his public retort to Erik ten Hag for raising it, killed Sancho's United career. He was banished to the academy building and had to get changed in a locked room for safeguarding reasons.

Ralf Rangnick had Sancho's number three years ago. Back in the days when press conferences were still conducted through Zoom calls, Rangnick was asked about Sancho's struggles during his first six months at United.

During an erudite and lengthy analysis, Rangnick pointed to his temple. "It’s more physical, it’s more pressure, although he also played for one of the biggest clubs in Germany, in Dortmund," Rangnick explained.

"But I think in total, the whole league, the whole competition is more physical and the level of expectation is higher. When he came to Borussia Dortmund as a young player, he was only 18. Now he’s 21, playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. I think it’s also got to do with a lot of different things up here in his head."

Sancho enjoyed his best run of form under Rangnick but the German diagnosed the problem early doors. Sancho only thrives in the comfort zone, ie. playing for also-rans in the Bundesliga. There is a reason why he billed Dortmund as "home" last year. Now he is back in his hometown of London.

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