“Keep the ball! F***g rubbish!” – After Jadon Sancho complaint, what Ten Hag told ex-Manchester United man before exit resurfaces

A previous comment from Erik ten Hag to Manchester United departee Zidane Iqbal has come to light following his criticism of Jadon Sancho.

Ten Hag omitted Sancho from his squad for the Red Devils' 3-1 Premier League defeat at Arsenal on Sunday (September 3). Ten Hag said that the English winger had underperformed in training, not reaching the level required.

The 23-year-old hit back at his manager's comments by claiming that he had been made a 'scapegoat'. He reckons there's more to his snub and that he had trained well.

However, Ten Hag's issues with his players' poor performance training have been on display before. He took issue with Iqbal just months into his arrival at Manchester United during the 2022-23 pre-season.

He was spotted in a training session slamming Iqbal for not keeping the ball on the floor. He said:

"Keep the ball on the floor ... Zidane! Hey! Keep the ball! F***ing rubbish!"

Iqbal, 20, didn't play for the Red Devils' senior team following the ordeal and departed for Eredivisie side FC Utrecht earlier this summer. It was an example of Ten Hag's strict discipline, particularly when it came to training.

The Manchester United manager also took action against Marcus Rashford last season when he arrived for training late. He dropped the in-form attacker to the bench in the 1-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The English forward came off the bench to score the winner, though.

However, Sancho's situation appears different, given Ten Hag's issues stem from a lack of performance in training, but the player thinks differently. Sancho has endured plenty of problems since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 for £73 million.

The English winger has been unable to shine for the Red Devils, scoring 12 goals and contributing six assists in 82 games across competitions. He's yet to start a game this season, coming off the bench thrice, totaling 76 minutes worth of action.

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Piers Morgan backs Sancho for defending himself after Manchester United boss Ten Hag's comments

Sancho feels he has been made a scapegoat at Manchester United.

Sancho posted a long-worded response to Ten Hag's claim that the winger had underperformed in training. He tweeted:

"Please don't believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week. I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won't go into, I've been a scapegoat for a long time which isn't fair!"

British broadcaster Piers Morgan has launched a staunch defence of Sancho by taking aim at the United boss for raising his issues with his training level, telling talkSPORT:

"I think if you're Sancho and your manager's just come out and rinsed you in front of the whole world for not training problem and you think you did train properly then I think you are perfectly entitled to defend yourself."

Morgan continued by comparing Ten Hag to the likes of legendary coaches Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson. He claims that neither would have gone public with such issues:

"I don't like any managers who spray gun their players in public, I never have done it. Wenger never did it. Ferguson never did it. The great managers don't do it. They keep it in house."

It remains to be seen how the situation will evolve from here, but Ten Hag has made strict decisions in similar circumstances. Sancho has three years left in his contract at Manchester United.