Rio Ferdinand explains why Jadon Sancho has been performing well

After Manchester United defeated Leicester City last night at the King Power Stadium, former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand made an appearance on a TV show with BT Sport where he talked about the game. He took the time to analyze why Jadon Sancho has been playing really well recently.

The English legend thinks Tyrell Malacia is helping him more than Luke Shaw did last season: “I think Jadon needs his team to be functioning really well. He needs Malacia to be flying up and down the wing like Hakimi was at Dortmund, to create that decoy and get somewhere to bounce the ball off when looking inside”.

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Ferdinand might be right in his analysis because last season Jadon Sancho didn’t perform like everyone expected after Manchester United paid €85 million to Borussia Dortmund for the transfer. The young English forward lived the best moment of his short career with the German club because he had other players that created space for him to take advantage of.

The 43-year-old ex-footballer believes that Jadon struggled in his first year at United because the full-backs weren’t helping him with runs behind him, but thinks that Erik ten Hag’s system will help him: “He is an intelligent football player, he has a great weight of pass, and he needs runners and movement around him to make sure he affects the game”.

A chance at redemption

Jadon Sancho has started the new season with a bang. He is currently Manchester United’s top goalscorer so far in the campaign with two goals in the wins against Liverpool and Leicester City. Last season he only scored three goals in the Premier League, so it looks like he will definitely exceed that figure.