After scoring on his return to Premier League action on Wednesday night, Jadon Sancho's time away from the club was deemed the best course of action by Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.
With coaches that Ten Hag had recommended to him, Sancho had spent time in the Netherlands working on a customized training regimen. The 22-year-old had not made an appearance in the Premier League since October before the Reds' 2-2 draw with Leeds United in midweek.
The former Borussia Dortmund player netted the equalizer for United in midweek, though, after he returned to the lineup in recent weeks. Thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Sancho, the home team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie 2-2 with Leeds.
Just 16 of the 22-year-outings old's for United this season have resulted in four goals and an assist. Ten Hag lauded the attacker for his tenacity in returning to the club after missing multiple games, despite the fact that his personal campaign has not been as successful as he had hoped.
"He's growing. He's definitely in better place than two or three months ago," Ten Hag told Sky Sports. "When he was away from the team, I think it was the right decision from him to do it."
"He worked hard on himself and now he is back. Now he has to find himself back in the team. That has to go step-by-step, now he's coming from the bench, so I hope he can make the next steps."
It comes after Ten Hag said the English winger wasn't physically ready to play, despite Sancho missing three months of first-team action. He missed United's December warm-weather training trip to Cadiz, but he made a comeback in the EFL Cup semi-final second-leg victory over Nottingham Forest at the beginning of this month.
The manager also expressed his delight with working closely with young talents. The former FC Ajax's boss has synonymous with harnessing prospects and developing them into World class. His works speaks volumes with what he did with Ajax.
The 53 year old has managed to stir Man United to the same direction since his appointment in June. He is given license to work closely with the academy coaching staff and has drilled Manchester United's squad into force to reckon in the league this season. He also transformed several players and helped them get into their best form. Their current position in the league and being the only English club competing across four competitions is an evidence of the Dutch tactician's influence.
"That makes this job so exciting. It is wonderful to work with young people and get the best out of them," he explained.
"Finally, they have to do it by themselves but often they need motivation, they need a push sometimes. Sometimes they need an interjection and also inspiration of a plan.”
The manager however emphasized that injuries and absence of players through suspension is having an adverse effect on the team's progress
“It is not easy, as you have to replace some players. The routines are not there and this is obvious. We had the combination over the last few weeks on the right with Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] and Antony," he stated.
"Now there is a new combination in the holding midfield position as we have to bring in a new position as Christian Eriksen is away. So the whole midfield construction is new and that takes time to bed in and get the routines again, this takes games and that was obvious yesterday. We played quite well but both starts killed our game," he explained.
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