Ryan Giggs has told Jadon Sancho not to sulk if he wants to change Erik ten Hag's opinion of him and win back his Manchester United place.
Sancho was left out of United's squad for last Sunday's 3-1 defeat at Arsenal, with Ten Hag claiming afterwards the 23-year-old had been omitted because of poor performances in training.
Winger Sancho took to social media to counter his manager's version of events, claiming what he said was “completely untrue” and that he had been made “a scapegoat for a long time”.
United legend Giggs, 49, said Ten Hag's public calling out of Sancho was a last desperate effort to get the best out of a player who has under-performed since joining from Borussia Dortmund for £72million two years ago.
“It looks like Ten Hag has tried everything with Sancho, really,” said Giggs, who made a record 963 appearances for United. “It seems like it was the last throw of the dice – 'I've tried everything, let's call him out publicly and see how he reacts'.
“When he came to the club, I was actually a fan. I thought he could get better, he could improve, which he's not really done in the short space of time he's been at the club. For me, he always made the right choices in that final third, which is rare for a young winger.
“But it just hasn't happened and he's sent him away to get fit, he's tried him in different positions and, for me, calling him out publicly is the last straw or the last thing to try to get the best out of Sancho.
“The player can react and think 'Right, I'll show him, I'll show the manager what I'm capable of' or he can sulk and he probably won't get anywhere. So it's up to Sancho now.
“I know a lot has been made of his training and for me, with my experience of United when I was a player, training was harder than the games.
“So you have to have those performances in training, to get yourself on that pitch on a Saturday, so he's got to improve, I think that's the bottom line.”
United's Adidas home shirt is made up of the same colour of the city's iconic red rose and features a black collar. The collar also features a dash of both red and white, giving it a slick and modernised look.
Giggs, speaking on the Webby & O'Neill YouTube channel, said Sancho has a responsibility to his United team-mates to give his all in training and not give Ten Hag a reason to leave him out again.
“If that is true, that the training performances haven't been good enough, then you're not going to play on a Saturday,” said Giggs. “I keep banging on about it, but you can only get it back on the training ground – build your confidence, build your fitness, build your physicality and do everything you can.
“Don't give the manager any excuses to call you out. When the manager calls you out, I don't know if it's the end, but he's probably at the end of his tether where he's thought 'Right, this is the last thing, see if this works'. So we'll see.
“I think it goes deeper than that though, I think it's a responsibility to the dressing-room as well, for his team-mates, Sancho, to make sure that he is performing every day in training.
“We drove each other every day. Sometimes the manager didn't have to do a lot, because the standards were already there in the dressing-room and the training pitch. The players have got to take responsibility as well.
“If your team-mate isn't pulling his weight – if that is true – then they have to call him out. They have to make sure he does perform, because he's got ability, we've all seen that. There's only one person who can change it.”
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