Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag dropped a major hint regarding Jadon Sancho’s playing position for next week’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City which is to be played at Wembley Stadium.
The Red Devils suffered a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool in their last pre-season match where Sancho started as a striker as Rasmus Hojlund is currently injured.
“Yes, otherwise we wouldn’t play with him there,” Ten Hag responded when asked about the prospect of Sancho leading the line next weekend.
“That is what we can do if we don’t have the availability of Rasmus, but of course, Joshua Zirkzee, he is coming in. H he has started training, but also consider that he is not so long in training, so that will take time, and he has to adapt to English football and our way of playing as well.
“There is also, of course, Jadon, as a striker. We know he can play in wide areas, but also as a false striker, he’s an option.”
After losing to Liverpool, the Dutchman admitted that he was not happy with the defeat as United have no more time for experiments.
“There were mixed feelings, I would say. I think I have seen positive bits, but the way we concede goals, we are, of course, not happy with it,” Ten Hag said.
“Of course, Liverpool are a very good side. They are very aggressive, and they have lots of goalscoring abilities, so they did very well. But the way we conceded, we are not happy with it.
“As I said, I think there were good bits, and the first goal is always very important. I thought Liverpool played very well, but they were also very efficient,” said Ten Hag.