Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho has been heavily criticised after his most recent Europa League appearance for Aston Villa.
Thursday evening saw Jadon Sancho’s third start for Villa after joining the team this Setptember on loan from Manchester United.
In a Europa League clash against Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv, Villa saw a 2-0 scoreline and secured the three 3 points, and despite this, Sancho was still criticised heavily for his in-match performance.
Many have described the winger’s contributions to the game as passive to the extent that former Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov said he was left feeling “disappointed” with the 25-year-old’s contributions to the match.
With 75 minutes given to the English player to prove himself, falling flat, fans and pundits have begun to question Sancho’s place within the Premier League.
Sancho’s spotlight automatically dimmed
With Villa head coach Unai Emery taking Thursday’s game to rotate his squad, resting big-name players such as Ollie Watkins, the Manchester United player was almost given his chance to make his mark on Villa Park, handed to him on a platter.
Emery recognised in previous matches that Sancho was deserving of a chance to prove himself to earn a bigger role within the team; however, his lacklustre performance completely extinguished hope for Sancho being a common name in Villa’s starting lineup.
Despite two goals that evening, from Maatsen and Donyell Malen, Sancho’s limited impact is what caught a large number of eyes.
The player was unable to change people’s opinions that his current form is not even comparable to what it was before he left Utd on loan.
Should Sancho return to Germany?
After the win on Thursday, Petrov spoke on TNT Sports, giving a short assessment of Sancho’s performance.
“Really impressed with Malseen, every time he has the chance, he always performs. He always impresses. I’m just not sure if I can say that for Sancho and [Evan] Guessand i’m a bit disappointed there.”
This poses questions about whether the loanee is past his potential and if it’s the player himself who is the problem, as opposed to the numerous clubs Sancho has found unable to prove himself at.
Alongside this, Dietmar Hamann has also spoken on Sancho’s performance during his loan at Villa, questioning whether the loanee can actually succeed within the Premier League.
He told footballblog.UK “It hasn’t really happened for Jadon Sancho at Aston Villa yet. He’s failed to settle at several English clubs.” Further backing the sentiment that the Premier League is not the stage for Sancho to show his true ability.
Expanding on his point, he argued, “Should he not be looking to return to Dortmund when his loan expires and he is in danger of not realising/wasting his talent?”
“He was such a good player when he came to United. I said to everybody that what he’s done in the Bundesliga was second to none. I was really surprised he struggled at United.” Circling back to the argument that Snacho will continue to be unable to prove himself if he is to remain in the Premier League.
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