Gary Neville sends warning to Jadon Sancho after slow start to Man Utd career

Callum Boyle

Sancho was an unused substitute in United’s 3-0 win away to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night

Gary Neville has warned Jadon Sancho that he could end up struggling for game time “if he’s not careful” after he was an unused substitute in Manchester United‘s win on Saturday night.

United cruised to a 3-0 win away at Tottenham Hotspur to ease the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford gave the Red Devils a much-needed three points.

As part of the win, Solskjaer decided to tweak his tactics by going to a three-at-the-back formation with Ronaldo and Cavani up top. As a result, there was no place for Sancho who remained on the bench, with questions being asked by Neville as to where he fits in this new-look system.

The 21-year-old has had a slow start to life in the North West following his big-money move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, failing to record a goal or an assist in any of his 11 appearances.

And Neville is concerned that his time at United may not get any better if this continues, comparing the situation to his teammate Donny van de Beek who has endured a torrid time at the club since his move from Ajax.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the pundit said: “I can’t help thinking about Van de Beek, who’s put the name on him? Who’s sponsoring that at Manchester United?

“That 40 million quid that’s been spent on that kid who is sat in the stand and not kicked a football now for nearly 18 months, Sancho if he’s not careful, he’s going to end up exactly the same.”

"I can't help thinking about van de Beek. Who's sponsoring that 40 million that's been spent on that kid who is sat in the stand and not kicked a football for nearly 18 months? Sancho if he's not careful will end up the same." — Gary Neville #mufc pic.twitter.com/3A4dt20Kb5

— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) October 31, 2021

However, despite Sancho’s struggles, Neville admitted that it hasn’t been an easy situation for the England international, highlighting that he had joined a ‘disjointed’ side in comparison to the one he left in Germany.

He said: “He’s played in some pretty appalling performances in the last few, not him but team performances, he’s come into a club that’s looked completely disjointed in terms of their football.

“He’s played in a far better football team at Dortmund, he’s probably come in here and thought: ‘What the hell am I in here, what is this?’ There’s no organisation, no structure, the defensive work rate is poor.

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