Jadon Sancho was the hero for Borussia Dortmund as they saw off PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Owen Hargreaves explained the key differences between his displays for the Bundesliga side and parent club Manchester United.
Sancho returned to Dortmund on loan in January having been ousted from the United first team by manager Erik ten Hag.
“Playing to his strengths…”
The England international made just three subsitute appearances for the Red Devils before being ousted, but has rediscovered some of his form for Dortmund.
Having scored in the 2-1 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday, Sancho opened the scoring against PSV, swivelling and firing a shot inside the near post from the edge of the box.
Marco Reus secured safe passage into the quarter-finals in stoppage time, and after the game Hargreaves was asked what’s been key to Sancho’s upturn in form since leaving United.
In a thinly veiled dig at Ten Hag, he claimed manager Edin Terzic deserves credit for “playing to his strengths”, while Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen has also been a significant ally.
He said: “I think when United signed him they thought they were going to get somebody that was going to play wide and take people on and be as a flying winger, but he’s actually better playing a little bit more centrally and we saw that again today.
“Maatsen covered the whole left hand side and really Jadon played quite narrow. And I think he’s at his best when he’s got people that he can link up with. It’s great to see him with that burst of pace.
“Technically, he’s so good and he’s such a good dribbler, but this is where he’s at his best when he’s just kind of linking it and playing one and two touch and I think this Dortmund team play that way, it suits him. Credit the manager Terzic for playing to his strengths.”
“He wanted the ball.”
Hargreaves’ co-pundit Glenn Hoddle doubled down on Hargreaves’ analysis, referring to Sancho’s positioning and willingness to drop deep.
Hoddle explained: “He’s got his confidence, he’s going to some places where at United he just wouldn’t go. He’s going into awkward places where he’s perhaps gonna get kicked, gonna get marked heavily, but today he enjoyed his game.
“He scored at the weekend. It just shows you what confidence does to a footballer. If you’ve got confidence. You are looking forward to the game.
“You just want the ball, he wanted the ball first and he wanted the ball so many times. He got annoyed if it didn’t come, that’s when you’re confident, that’s when you’re on top of your game.”
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