The chips were down for Chelsea. After only 11 minutes of Sunday's London derby away to Tottenham, they trailed 2-0 and could have few c...
The chips were down for Chelsea. After only 11 minutes of Sunday's London derby away to Tottenham, they trailed 2-0 and could have few complaints over that scoreline. Spurs had come racing out of the blocks and the Blues looked set to be the latest victim of Ange Postecoglou's Robin Hood routine - stealing points off the rich and handing them over to the poor.
That unpredictability worked against Tottenham this time. Where they trounced Manchester United and Manchester City, Chelsea had their heads screwed on. Enzo Maresca made the requisite tactical changes to overwhelm the hosts and his side eventually ran out 4-3 winners.
From there on in, he was never shy to take on his man, to take up the invitation to break into the space vacated by Spurs' uneven structure. Cole Palmer's double from the penalty spot grabbed the headlines, but Sancho was the catalyst behind a momentous day in their season. It might just have been a momentous day in his career too.
Dealing with wonderkid status
It's easier than ever to track the progress of young players coming through academy systems. Years before Sancho had even made his professional debut, he was being talked about as England's next great winger in those circles.
He made the choice to leave Watford, where he had joined a boarding school in order to cut out the lengthy commute across London to Hertfordshire, for Manchester City aged only 14. By 17, he had taken the bold step of going against City in a row over first-team assurances and made the move to Germany with Borussia Dortmund, where he quickly became a hit.
Sancho came on leaps and bounds at Signal-Iduna Park, and his Bundesliga exploits became talk of legend back home. It's not as though Dortmund games weren't available to an English audience, rather it was still too much of a hassle and there isn't much appetite for foreign competitions compared to domestic ones. Nevertheless, his stats and highlight compilations did enough talking - this was a special player on the rise to stardom.
He was GOAL's NXGN winner for 2019 and there was the same feeling of inevitability about a top career for Sancho as there was for Eden Hazard upon his exit from Lille. That's the company he was in and it was completely justified.
Man Utd's plan thrown in the bin
Manchester United wanted Sancho for two years before they eventually signed him in 2021. They were said to have laid out a plan for him to come in and start in his preferred left-wing position. It's why it was so baffling when he signed they didn't stick to that plan.
The Red Devils parted company with £73m and theoretically would have built the attack around their new star winger, but instead half-arsed that measure. He was switched from flank to flank and scarcely given a run to gain rhythm as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer toyed with how to get the best out of surprise and opportune signing Cristiano Ronaldo. Sancho's relative lack of pace compared to that generally exhibited in the Premier League was also a tough fit with United's transitional style.
Solskjaer was sacked in November of the 2021-22 season and stunningly replaced by Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis. Sancho's fortunes didn't fare any better. The arrival of Erik ten Hag brought renewed promise for a player quickly making his way onto lists of Premier League flops, and despite a season hampered by fitness issues, time off for mental health reasons and the form of Marcus Rashford keeping him from the left wing, Sancho still put up a respectable nine goal contributions in 1,700 league minutes.
Falling out with Ten Hag
Sancho's United career effectively ended after he reacted angrily to an insinuation from Ten Hag that he hadn't been training well enough to warrant a place in his matchday squad in September 2023. One social media outburst later and the winger was banished from the first team, including their Carrington training facilities.
It's easy to say with hindsight that Ten Hag was a rubbish man-manager, but at the time he still had plenty of credit in the bank after a successful first season at Old Trafford. Cutting off Ronaldo a year prior was well received by most of the United faithful, a sign that the players no longer ruled a toxic dressing room, so doing the same for a seemingly unruly Sancho was similarly praised.
And so off Sancho drifted into obscurity for several months. When the January window rolled around, he returned to Dortmund on loan, securing a second chance to rebuild his reputation (and to United, his value) in familiar surroundings, a place where he enjoyed the best of times. His numbers weren't anywhere near as good as his first stint - three goals and three assists in 21 appearances - though his general displays and demeanour had improved, playing a starring role on BVB's run to the Champions League final.
Dortmund declined to follow on their interest in a permanent deal and Sancho was reinstated into the United fold during pre-season after appearing to have made peace with Ten Hag, only to then be omitted from their opening Premier League squads and put up for sale. A strange end to a strange period was in sight.
Dream move to Chelsea
It was first mooted on August 20 that United sensed Chelsea would be interested in taking Sancho, despite already adding to their ranks with Pedro Neto and Joao Felix. There wasn't much time to get a deal done, but the Blues pushed through an initial loan, which was confirmed nearly 24 hours after the window closed.
It did reek of Chelsea's infamous scattergun approach, though there was still method behind the madness. Sancho was more of a fit for Maresca's possession-based philosophy which requires his wingers to remain wide and get at their full-back rather than sprinting in behind, and a move home to London could have huge benefits from an off-field perspective.
Better yet, Chelsea pulled United's pants down in negotiations, agreeing to a one-year loan plus an obligation to buy for £25m if they finished 14th or higher in the Premier League table. The Red Devils were content with making a near-£50m loss at a time where INEOS were making cost-cutting measures all across the club. The pressure was off Sancho from the start.
Welcome competition for places
Fellow summer recruits Neto and Felix, as well as Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku and Mykhailo Mudryk, meant it was conceivable Sancho wouldn't get too much game time, if at least to begin with. As it turns out, this has been the ideal situation for him to fall into.
Maresca has, to this point, successfully navigated the challenge of balancing intense Premier League fixtures with the mundaneness of the Conference League's league phase. The only assured spots in his attack are for Palmer in the hole and Nicolas Jackson up top. Sancho has been in a neat spot where chances will be afforded to him regardless of form, though a string of fine performances will also be rewarded.
Speaking after Sunday's win at Spurs, Sancho said of the Chelsea squad: "From the very first day, they've made me feel welcome. I know I have a lot of people to prove wrong. And I'm just, day by day, working hard every day in training. Once I get my opportunity, I just try to show what I can do. So today I'm happy that I scored and got the three points for the team."
Winning cures all and Maresca's splitting of the squad might lead to a mini-mutiny, but for now, Sancho is the beneficiary of such a system. He is a tactical fit and a squad fit, enjoying his football and, on the face of things, happier in general. Chelsea have succeeded with the Brian Clough strategy of turning the water of a distressed asset into wine.
Chelsea's title challenge - and Man Utd's struggles
Beating Tottenham saw Chelsea move four points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, though the Reds do now have a game in hand after Saturday's Merseyside derby was postponed. You'd imagine the Blues won't actually finish the season in first due to their defensive lapses and general immaturity across the squad at this stage of the project, yet they may be worthy contenders nonetheless. Sancho is now having more of a say in their success with two goals from his last two games and some statement performances already this term.
Sancho got out of United and into Chelsea at the most opportune of times. He might never hit the heights once expected of him, but may yet still prove to be a key player for a side that competes for major honours. It was hard to envisage that even a few months ago.
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