Soccer Saturday: Erik ten Hag unsure if Jadon Sancho will play for Manchester United again

Guys, welcome back. Here we go once again. The Premier League is back and it feels Paul Merton. We're going to come on to talk about Harry Maguire in England very shortly. But in terms of Manchester United, it felt in terms of off the field things. Yes, the takeover rumbles on, but things were a little bit quieter. And then we got to the last few days. As I mentioned, we'll talk Harry Maguire. But now we've got Anthony, who's not going to be in the squad for the time being. He fights those allegations that have been made against him back in Brazil. And now Jadon Sancho and Eric Ten Hag saying yesterday he's not sure if he's going to play for the club again. What's your take on recent events at Old Trafford? Well, first of all, if I was the manager, if I was Ten Hag, I'd be sitting there now thinking, well, I've sort of wiped my hands with Sancho and now I haven't got Anthony. Now, all of a sudden, you've got two of the wingers that are out. This doesn't usually happen at Man United. You know, it's usually in-house. It's very quiet. You know, they get things done. I'm sure Sir Alex Ferguson's ripped some people before in his time, but, you know, very rarely he's going to come out and do it publicly as much as he does. It might come out, but he won't do it himself. We are talking thin lines with Man United. You know, they're a centimetre away from winning at the Emirates and we're all going mad about Man United. What a result. They've just beat Arsenal. Then in the end, they get beat 3-1. Then the Sancho thing comes out and it just snowballed. He needs to sort it out. He'd done it with Ronaldo and it sort of worked with Ronaldo. Ronaldo was coming towards the end of his career, so it weren't too bad. This kid they paid a lot of money for, paid a lot of money. They're not getting that money back. You know, at the moment, the way they're going and the way everything's coming out, I don't see anybody coming in and going, I'll give you 60 million for Sancho. I just don't think that's going to happen. So I think he's got to be careful, Ten Hag, the way he plays this. You know, you get some managers who they don't want a player, but they'll keep on saying how great he is for other people to go, you know what, I'll buy him. But here at the moment, you know, I worry for Man United. I think this is a big football match today. I expect them to win, but it's a must-win game because I think it's damage limitations in buying. They lose that before you know it. It snowballs and they're losing game after game. Clinton has made exactly the same start as last season in terms of the Premier League, but he had that kind of Eric Ten Hag firefighting period. And then eventually he dealt, as Paul said, with the Cristiano Ronaldo situation last season. But it seems already at this early stage of the new season, he's firefighting again. And it feels like that negativity around United is closing in once again. And it shouldn't be like that with the signings that they've had. But yeah, it feels like maybe there's a bit of pressure. He hasn't started the season. Merseyspot on. It's like literally a millimetre. If Garnaccio's onside, it's a different game there. But they've had a few injuries to the start of the season. But I didn't like that. Listen, sometimes you have to keep things in-house. It's different. You can ask Tim because he's probably a manager. But you know, if my manager comes out and criticises me and maybe Sancho's looking at it now, it's probably social media. He shouldn't have replied like that. But you do get frustrated. Maybe that can be sorted in-house. Maybe Ten Hag doesn't. When they ask you at the end, you just say, I've left them out. And Tim would tell you as a manager, just be honest. I've left you out and that's it. You're not performing. But you don't have to say... He's got to cover himself. He's just lost another football match. Yeah, I understand that. But then as a youngster, he's 23 years of age. And maybe he's not delivering. Everyone knows Jadon Sancho's not delivering at the moment. But when they ask the question, if you wanted them bringing him back into the squad, you're not going to say that, Merse. So maybe his time might have run out. It's a different story, though, if he is delivering. If he's on fire for a while, it's a different story. That's the problem. He's not delivering. He wouldn't do that to someone like Marcus Rashford or probably a Bruno Fernandes because they'll be delivering for him. But he put Rashford on the bench a bit late last year. Yeah, he did. And then what happened at Wolves? You had to bring him on at half-time and he changed the game for him. But that was for being late. He's saying now Sancho's not delivering at the training. He's not training properly. So it's a hard one. Listen, Sancho's got a talented player. Hopefully, he can turn it around for the Man United. If I'm the top people at Man United, that would worry me what the manager's saying. I've invested £70-80 million in this player and then you start saying about him in training, this and that. If I'm a manager now, I can't go and pay £60-70 million for Sancho. You've got to keep that quiet. That is like a no-go. Okay, Tim, how would you deal with it? Sorry, Sue, we'll come to you in a minute. No, I was just going to say, do you think it's like the final straw? Like he's trying something else, so he's tried everything. He's tried to get the best out of him. Maybe he spoke to him personally and now it's like, I'm going to come out in public and I'm going to do that and see if that works. I don't know. I think you try everything you possibly can, but what you don't want to do is cut your nose off to spite your face. So how would you deal with it? If you haven't got Anthony, maybe you need to get your arm around Sancho. He's decided he's not going to do that. I mean, we had that situation, Paul won't mind me saying, we played together at Portsmouth and Harry Redknapp was a manager and he's one of the best man managers you're ever going to find. There's different facets of football management and it's dealing with the individuals. I remember Paul told him a white lie and said he was going somewhere and he ended up going to Barbados. Oh, come on, what was the white lie? I said I was going to Tony Adams Treatment Centre. Yeah, and where were you going? Barbados on holiday. And Harry's friend was sitting next to Paul on the beach and rung Harry and said, I'm sitting next to your centre forward. He said, no, it seems possible. He said Tony Adams is the priory, is it? Yeah. And he said, no, I know who Paul Merson is. I'm an Arsenal fan, I know Paul Merson. So he's here. So Harry pulls me and he says, do you know where Merson is? I said, no, I'm not a grassman. So far, well played. You know what kind of school kid you were? Not at all, Harry, not at all. He said, I know where he is, he's in Barbados. I said, what are you going to do about it? He said, you've seen how well it's been planned? Nothing. And he got it absolutely right. He was winning games for us on his own. Sancho's not doing that for Man United at the moment, so it has to do with how he feels fit. I think his man management skills are not great. I have to be honest, Ten Hag. I think that it's easy when you're managing Ajax because you can leave out whoever you want and bring another kid in from their academy and you're still competitive in their league. In the Premier League, you need your best players at all times. And when they're thin on the ground through injuries, I think you need to nurture your players, get your arm around them and get the best out of them. I'm not sure he's improved anyone at that football club. Really? Who has he improved? Can we find anyone he's improved? He hasn't improved anyone at the moment. I think he did okay last year. It's a mess what he's come into, by the way. And he's had the Ronaldo situation. But how bad is that? One of the best players in the world and you've got to deal with him. Should have dealt with that better, I felt. And he's got talented players there and I don't feel like he's made any of them better. And what kind of job, Michael, moving things on to England chat, does he now have in terms of Harry Maguire? Because it's been another interesting week for him. He's played 23 minutes for Manchester United, as a substitute against Scotland, midweek in the friendly at Hampden Park. Gareth Southgate leapt to his defence after the game saying the treatment of him was a joke. He'd never seen anything like it. In terms of what you've seen from Harry Maguire and in terms of how he's been treated so far this season, was Southgate spot on or has it all been a little bit overblown? Because his mum's even got involved now, putting out a statement on Instagram just in the last couple of days. Yeah, I know. I think it's just got to a point where it's becoming ridiculous. I mean, Harry comes on at half time and the Scotland fans are even jeering him. It's pathetic. But whose fault is that? Well, it's not Harry's fault, I can tell you that. Harry doesn't want to go out. He just wants to go out there and play football. And I look back to the summer and we talk about Eric Ten Haag and people might disagree with me here. Why he changed his captaincy, if Harry Maguire's in the building, he's still captain of the football club for me. If he doesn't play Bruno Fernandes and Mersi... They're different captains, aren't they, really? They're different captains. One's a club captain and one's a pitch captain. Exactly. And if he plays, he's captain. If he doesn't play, which you accept times. I experienced that at Spurs at times. I was club captain and I didn't play every week. Had they took that club captaincy off me, how were you going to react? You're thinking, wow, well, they want me out the door. We knew that in the summer. Harry decides to stay. There was rumours, was he going to go? That was his choice. He just wants to go out there and play football. And it seems we all talk about Harry Maguire. Let him play his football. But that's the problem, isn't it? Because the best way to shut up the critics is to put in good performances. But if you're not starting, you're not playing, you don't have the opportunity. That's where it's hard for him, going into England. And we all sit on here and think, if you're not playing for your club, how are you playing for your country? Not once is he letting England down. And that's what Gareth Southgate, he's a very loyal manager. You see it. There was no Sterling in the squad. Too loyal? His loyalty is getting Harry a lot of stick. Yeah, that's what it is. I mean, Gareth's absolutely right. And I'm sure Harry, when his career finishes, he won't blame anyone. It's not his fault. He's not being picked by 10 hard. Perhaps he should be. I'm sure he's training well to try and get into the team. But by Gareth Southgate picking a player who's not playing for his club side, I think he's hurting him. But I agree with Gareth. If you feel like he's the best player to pick to win a football match, you have to play him. But his loyalty is hurting him, you know, with the stick he's getting, certainly on social media. We thought that in the World Cup in Qatar. And he was in team with the World Cup. And we're all sat here saying, is he going to go to the World Cup? He doesn't just go, he starts and puts in unbelievable performances. So that's why I can understand why... You know what? I don't think he's ever let down England when he's been there. Never. It's just because he's not playing. But the problem is, and unlike Gareth Southgate, is the Scotland game. You don't need to bring him on at half-time. You know there's going to be huge pressure. He's played in the big game that he went to against Ukraine. You could give someone like a Tomori or a Levi Caldwell an opportunity. You don't need to. And then what happens? He scores on his own goal and everyone throws pressure on Harry Maguire. But you know one thing with Harry Maguire? He's big enough to take it. But he is getting a bit over the top. Every time you're talking about England or talking about something, it always focuses on Harry Maguire. But at the same time, Tim O'Doar makes a good point. You know what? If you're not playing at the moment at Man United and you say you're going to pick players on form, Gareth's not doing that. But he does deserve to be in that England squad because he's never let them down. I'm sure Gareth would have talked to Harry Maguire before the transfer deadline. I'm sure he would have said to him, you know, I've got a chance to go in West Ham. West Ham, what's my chances of England still? And he would have said, you keep on doing well for me at England. He doesn't let England down. He gets in England's best team. So I know Gareth. I've played with Gareth for three years. He's strong-minded. Gareth won't worry about what the press are saying. The only thing I would say, and I play with Gareth, if he was ripping it up at centre-half at Villa like he did as well every week and he wasn't in the England squad and someone was in the England squad who wasn't playing every week, he would go ballistic. Like Dunk? Yeah, he would go ballistic. Yeah. Yeah, and Lewis Dunk was absolutely brilliant. Yeah. About him and Brighton a little bit later. Let's talk, continuing the kind of international and Manchester United theme about Scott McTominay because he can barely get a look in at Manchester United at the moment. But when it comes to Scotland, he's the second joint top scorer in terms of the European qualification games so far behind Romelu Lukaku of Belgium and joined with Rasmus Hoyland, his team-mate from Manchester United. So I guess the question is, Sue, why is Steve Clarke getting the best out of him but Eric Tenhag is barely picking him, barely playing him? Yeah, he's been excellent, hasn't he? And I think the way that Steve Clarke deploys him is that supporting midfielder with McGinn. He just seems to flourish in that and he has been, you know, just a real important part of that side, the way that he attacks, the box-to-box player that he can be and yeah, he's provided goals, scored goals and he just looks so confident. So yeah, Steve Clarke's certainly getting the best out of him. And he's fresh every week when he turns up because he isn't playing. I'm not being horrible, but it makes a difference. You know, come January, people like him, if they get a move, he's a big signing in January because if he hasn't played, he's going to be fresh on the second part of the season. It makes a difference. You go away with your country, he's more bubbly, he's more fresher than other players who've been playing week in, week out. But I'm shocked that no one coming or he didn't go in the transfer window. I'm not saying through his choice, I thought there'd be a lot of clubs after him. But we're criticising Maguire though for not playing and playing for England and now we're saying because McTominay's fresh. Yeah, he's playing. So Harry's fresh. No, I've got no question about it. I don't mind Harry getting picked. I mean, I just, he doesn't let England down. I haven't got a problem, I think, but what Gareth said at the start when he come in was bang. I'm going, if he didn't say that, it wouldn't be a problem. But he said, I'm going to pick players on form, which, you know, obviously he's gone back on that now. But yeah, I'm surprised Scott McTominay, I thought he would do a job for any team. I'm surprised he's not playing at Manchester United the way they've been in the... Yeah, I mean, he's got no chance now, has he? Because of Arobat. Yeah, now he's come in, but before that, you think getting overrun, you can have all the luxury, you can have all the quality, you need someone who's got that little bit of aggression who can win the ball back, who can run around the field and sometimes have to kick people, win the ball back and give it to the players that are more creative to then go and express yourself. I think what Simon's saying, making a point, he's getting the best out of him, Clark. He's getting the best out of him in an offensive moment. I mean, he's breaking into the box, he's arriving at the right time, he's got to finish on him. You don't see that at Man United, he plays as a six, you know, or an eight at best, you know, he's up and down. I think he's capable, I really do. I think he's a very, very good player.