Silvestre slams Sancho: Football bubble makes players forget simple behaviours

When Manchester United signed Jadon Sancho in a blockbuster deal in 2021, they would not have, in their wildest dreams, expected how the move panned out.

Sancho is in the news for all the wrong reasons. He openly defied manager Erik ten Hag by refuting his claims that the winger was not performing in training. To make matters worse, Sancho has reportedly refused to apologise to the manager despite advice from teammates Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw.

As per reports, Sancho is banned from using all first team facilities.

We got a few words on this situation with former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre, who was part of the team when Roy Keane infamously clashed with Sir Alex Ferguson and was let go.

Silvestre criticised Sancho for his approach and explained how being in a football bubble can make players forget about professionalism.

In this article:

• Sancho Should Have Talked To Ten Hag Like A Man
• The Football Bubble Makes Players Forget Simple Behaviours

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Sancho Should Have Talked To Ten Hag Like A Man

The former French international criticised Sancho for airing his grievances in the public domain instead of talking to Ten Hag in private.

“So, instead of pointing fingers at the manager. First of all, these things should stay between the manager and himself, not in the public domain.”

“If you have something to say to your boss, you don’t go on social media, you go in the office and you talk to him, as a man. Man-to-man and respect the working situation. It is a coworking situation and has to be dealt with like this.”

Silvestre reiterated that Sancho has not lived up to expectations, and like the majority of players, his statements can be construed as excuses.

“I must say that a lot of players, the majority, would always look at excuses. If you look at Jadon’s performances, when he was supposed to be at his best, his peak, at United, he hasn’t delivered as much as everybody was hoping for.”

The Football Bubble Makes Players Forget Simple Behaviours

The four-time Premier League winner further attributed Sancho’s behaviour to the ‘football bubble’ where players think communicating via social media is more effective than sorting out issues face-to-face.

“The problem with players is because they haven’t been educated this way. When you’ve been living in the football world all your life, and now suddenly you think that social media is the way for you to communicate rather than internally.”

Silvestre adds that there’s no need for the player to talk to his agent/his entourage. They should behave like grown-ups and communicate with the manager in a professional manner – a simple behaviour that football players forget because of the bubble they’re in.

“I’m sorry, you’re a grown-up, you take the meeting with the manager and you speak to him. There’s no need to speak to your entourage, your agent, your family. You can take your advisor to the meeting if you feel more comfortable, but you need to go and have this conversation. It’s valid for all businesses, so it should apply to football as well.”

“But because we’re in a bubble, we can sometimes forget the simple behaviours.”

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