“Celebrating his downfall…” – Man Utd legend defends Jadon Sancho and slams reactionary fans

Manchester United legend Andy Cole has slammed football fans for being too reactionary and overly critical of Jadon Sancho’s loan spell at Borussia Dortmund.

Cole, who scored 187 Premier League goals, compared the reaction to Sancho’s time at Dortmund to what he witnessed during his own career, with people wishing the worst for the forward and being quick to label him as a “disaster.”

This is the opposite belief of Cole’s strike partner in United’s 1999 treble-winning team Dwight Yorke, who had previously accused Sancho of ‘strolling through life’ at United shortly before the Englishman’s return to Dortmund was announced.

But, despite the strong criticisms of his former teammate, Cole has come to the defence of Sancho, describing the winger as a “very talented player” and slamming those who fail to see the “bigger picture.”

“In football, I’ve noticed, even in my time, we always seem to celebrate somebody’s downfall when they’re going through a rough patch,” Cold told Betfred. “Any player can have a bad game. Are people saying that his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund has been an absolute disaster? Because I don’t believe it has.

“We get caught up in judging individuals based on one game because there’s always an agenda against people, but there’s a bigger picture than that. 

“Whether he does or doesn’t stay at Manchester United in the long-term, the kid is still a very talented player. You can all sit here and say he’s got to get his head right, but I think everyone needs to get their head and mindset right at times.”

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Discussing the future of Sancho, Cole would admit that though it may lie away from Manchester United, he believes Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS will review the Sancho situation before a decision is made.

“It’s not worked out for him at the moment at Manchester United, but you just never know what’s going to happen,” Cole remarked. “I listened to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments the other day regarding Mason Greenwood and how a decision regarding his future will be made in the summer, so it looks like they’re going to go back to that situation and review it, so I believe that Sancho will be in that discussion as well.

“Yes, he’s had a tough time, but can they address this problem? If they can’t address this problem, what is the best thing for Jadon Sancho as well as Manchester United? That’s the way they’ve got to look at things. 

“If you look at Manchester United over the last 11 years, how many players have come to the club, who have had a lot expected of them, and it’s not worked out and it’s always been down to the player?

“Everything can’t always be down to the player and everything can’t always be down to the club. The culture isn’t right, so you’ve got to look at many different things because too many players, and too many good players, have come to Manchester United and it’s not worked out. For me, that doesn’t make sense.”