“Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho seemed frightened to go anywhere near” – Pundit feels Manchester United duo pulled away from physical battle with Brentford star during 4-0 loss

Former Manchester United forward Garth Crooks has suggested that Red Devils duo Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were intimidated by Brentford defender Pontus Jansson.

Manchester United began their 2022-23 season with a 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at home. Brentford added to their woes by handing them a 4-0 beating in the Premier League on Saturday (August 13).

The Red Devils found themselves trailing 4-0 just 35 minutes into the match in London. Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo were all on the scoresheet for Thomas Frank's side.

Crooks, though, was particularly impressed by Jansson's performance in the Bees' defense. The former Manchester United forward has claimed that the Swede kept the entire Red Devils attack, including former teammate Christian Eriksen, at bay on Saturday. He wrote in his BBC Sport column:

"Chants like 'you should have stayed at a big club' or 'what's the score', while painful for Christian Eriksen, must have been music to the ears of Jansson."

"The Brentford captain never gave his former team-mate - or the Manchester United forward line - a kick in his side's 4-0 win."

Crooks went on to insist that Rashford and Sancho were scared to get into physical battles with the 31-year-old. He wrote:

"Cristiano Ronaldo spent most of the first half watching David de Gea pick the ball out of the United net, while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho seemed frightened to go anywhere near Jansson, just in case it might get a bit physical."

The BBC pundit also pointed out how little Jansson earns when compared to the Red Devils. He stressed the need for Ten Hag's players to start earning their paychecks. He concluded:

"Jansson gets paid a fraction of what those United players get. Do you think there's any chance they might start earning it?"

Manchester United now find themselves sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table after two matches.

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Manchester United face Liverpool in their next match

Things could go from bad to worse for the bottom-placed Red Devils next week. They are scheduled to face Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at Old Trafford in the Premier League next Monday.

However, like Ten Hag and Co., the Reds have had a poor start to their league campaign. They have failed to win both their matches so far, having been held to draws by Fulham and Crystal Palace.

The two teams will thus lock horns with each other next week with the hope of getting their first three points on the board.