Opinion: Sancho can improve United, if Solskjaer knows how
July 23, 2021
This reporter has been fortunate enough to watch Manchester United live more than most during the pandemic: four times to be precise. Unfortunately, there was a similar outcome each time.
In the 2020 Europa League semi-final against Sevilla in Cologne, in Champions League games away at Istanbul Basaksehir and RB Leipzig later that year, and in the 2021 Europa League final against Villarreal in Gdansk, United fell short.
And they did so in frustratingly similar circumstances, unable to find a way through well-organized defensive formations. There were similar patterns in Premier League games, too, last season against Arsenal (0-1), Sheffield United (1-2), West Brom (1-1), Crystal Palace (0-0), Leeds United (0-0) and Fulham (1-1) – dropped points which resulted in United finishing 12 points off top.
Now, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to correct that problem and take United closer to a first trophy since the 2017 Europa League, and ultimately a first Premier League title since 2013.
Jadon Sancho, officially unveiled on Friday following an €85 million ($100m / £72.5m) move from Borussia Dortmund, is a key part of that plan. And this writer has been fortunate to watch his development over the past four seasons in Germany as well.
Sancho: Dortmund's creative spark
The 21-year-old's figures speak for themselves: 50 goals in 137 appearances for the Black and Yellows, plus 64 more assists. A German Cup triumph and four consecutive top-four finishes. Three Bundesliga player of the month awards and raft of broken records: the youngest Dortmund player to score twice in a Bundesliga match, Dortmund's youngest scorer in the Champions League, the youngest player ever to score nine Bundesliga goals in a season, Dortmund's youngest ever player to score ten. The list goes on …
Generally playing off the left in a 4-2-3-1, although often switching to the right wing and back again during games, Sancho has spent four seasons terrorizing Bundesliga fullbacks, and seducing BVB supporters, who are disappointed to see him leave. His substitute role for England at Euro 2020 was baffling for many in Germany.
He's the creative spark which makes the difference when Dortmund are facing not only their own Yellow Wall behind the goal, but defensive walls in front of it. As for walls at free-kicks, Sancho overcomes them too, as he demonstrated with his wonderful free kick against Bruges in the Champions League in November.
His individual ability isn't in doubt. But then again, neither is that of his new United teammates Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek, Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba or Edinson Cavani. Yet still, Solskjaer's United have struggled to click consistently going forward, all too often appearing bereft of a coherent offensive plan.
United: the final piece of the puzzle?
Reports in Manchester suggest that the Norwegian wants to switch to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation in the coming season, not dissimilar to the formation from which Sancho benefitted in Dortmund.
In Luke Shaw, arguably England's player of the tournament at Euro 2020, he'll also have a world class left-back to combine with. And in Cavani, a proven goalscorer in the mould of Erling Haaland.
The question, as so often at United, is whether or not Solskjaer can identify the right structure to get the most out of the quality available to him. If he doesn't, then a reliance on sheer individual talent alone will only take United so far, and lead to repeats of Cologne, Istanbul, Leipzig and Gdansk – Sancho or no Sancho.