Erik ten Hag has attributed Jadon Sancho’s goalscoring form to his impressive pre-season work on his strength and physicality.
The England international netted just three goals in his debut season with Manchester United but has two in his first five games under Erik ten Hag, including the winner in Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Leicester City.
After the game, Ten Hag admitted Sancho may have found the transition to English football somewhat of a culture shock, but now that he has embraced it, the boss predicted plenty more goals in Sancho’s future.
“I think he had quite a good pre-season,” Ten Hag said. “He understands now he has to invest in the physical and that is what he did and now he can get the reward and that is what he has to bring. I’m sure it’s the start for him.
“With his potential, there’s much more room for improvement, he can be even more important and contribute with his creativity and scoring goals and assists. With the defending part, he can be even more important.
“Yes, I think he can [become a prolific goalscorer]. He has the capabilities and he did it also in a different league, but this is Premier League, so the intensity is higher, so he has to adapt to that, mentally and physically. The capabilities are there, the skills.”
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As well as praising Sancho, Ten Hag was also keen to give some credit to Marcus Rashford for registering his first assist of the campaign.
He told MUTV: “I’m really happy for him [Sancho] and also the assist for Rashford is great.
“It is the reward, they both work really hard, they invested a lot in pre-season and they do lot for the team with their pressing.”
