Interesting Brentford & Everton statistic shows how one Man United player can thrive

Jadon Sancho has looked much improved for Manchester United in their last two games as one statistic highlights a potential reason behind his turnaround.

The 23-year-old winger started in both wins against Brentford and Everton. They were two of the most convincing performances in recent months for Erik ten Hag’s team.

After a disappointing cameo off the bench against Newcastle last weekend, Sancho bounced back with two promising showings. On Saturday afternoon he created five chances and set Scott McTominay up to earn an important assist.

Sancho’s career at United so far has had ups and downs; the talent is quite clearly there but the inconsistencies have caused worry.

The biggest worry has been seeing the English star have games pass him by, where he’s unable to stamp his marker on the fixtures. At Borussia Dortmund, the winger was involved heavily in their chance creation; getting the ball often and in dangerous areas.

Sancho’s 52 touches against Everton was his joint-highest for any games this season; against Brentford, he registered 50 touches – the second-most.

These touches have come in areas further up the pitch too, as United dominate possession of the ball and squeeze the opposition further back.

Sancho does not possess the blistering pace of Rashford or the incredible long passes of Bruno Fernandes to thrive when having low usage of the ball. This could be one of the underlying reasons why Ten Hag has used him centrally in some games.

We know what the wide man can do with runners in attacking spaces, as shown through his assist for McTominay on the weekend. However, in order to get those runners you need the player to keep getting the ball in advanced areas.

The last two games look to be promising examples of how Sancho can play when the team’s play suits his strengths.

In fact, the wing setup of Sancho and Antony might involve two players labelled as ‘flops’ by many, but in the few games they’ve started together, United have looked at their best.