Erik ten Hag refused to be drawn on his feud with Jadon Sancho after the Manchester United star was banished from first-team.
The 23-year-old caused a stir last week when he hit back at Ten Hag on social media after the manager claimed he had been dropped from the matchday squad against Arsenal as a result of his displays in training.
The former Dortmund star branded the claims “untrue” before going on to reveal how he had been made a “scapegoat”.
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The duo have been involved in talks this week, but Manchester United confirmed in a statement on Thursday that Sancho would remain on a “personal training programme” away from the first team until a “squad discipline issue” has been resolved.
A report from The Athletic has also claimed Sancho was banished after refusing to apologise to Ten Hag this week, but the Dutchman was reluctant to reveal further details in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Wolves.
When he was asked about Sancho, Ten Hag said: “I think everything has been said. The squad is strong, the squad is in good spirits and in a good mood going into the game.
“You have some setbacks in seasons. Players are injured or unavoidable for other reasons.
“That’s why you construct a squad and the players who are available are very motivated to give a good performance. It’s my job to control the standards. If staff, players, whoever crosses lines, you have to be strong, obviously.”
Former Manchester United midfielder Gordon Strachan said this week that it was down to Sancho to salvage his career in the coming months after his outburst.
“Jadon needs to look at himself and figure out what he’s doing wrong, rather than feeling as though he’s being attacked,” Strachan said.
“Of course, we don’t know the whole story, but that’s how I see it from the outside. The first thing I would say to a player is ‘have a look at yourself’. Look at yourself before anybody else, it’s as simple as that.
“Go and look at your games and tell me if that’s as good as you think you can be. If it is, then you can’t play here because the standard is far bigger at Manchester United than anywhere else.”
