The recent developments involving Paul Pogba at Juventus and Jadon Sancho at Manchester United highlight how disciplinary issues can have a significant impact on a player’s career. Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended by Juventus, and similarly, Jadon Sancho faces a similar fate under the management of Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
Nemanja Matic, who was one of the leaders at United after he moved from Chelsea, has given a comparative analysis of both club’s players’ levels of discipline, and he’s specifically highlighted Pogba and Sancho’s struggles with punctuality.
Nemanja Matic exposes Sancho and Pogba as United’s late arrivals
Nemanja Matic is now 35 years old. He spent his younger years at Manchester United, where he played with football stars like Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho. He currently plays for Rennes in France, but in a recent interview on his time at United, he disclosed that two players, Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho, used to irritate their teammates by consistently being late to training sessions.
In an interview with YouTube channel YU Planet, Matic discussed the difference in punctuality between his time at Chelsea and Manchester United, stating, “At Chelsea, players acted professionally, they were punctual and were never late for training but at United it happened almost every day.” He went on to specifically name Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho as the two players who would “always be late,” noting the frustration it caused among the rest of the team.
‘Among the players who would always be late were Paul Pogba, Jadon Sancho, and a couple of other players,’ he continued.
Why did Matic leave Manchester United?
In the latter period of Matic’s Manchester United career, he expressed his admiration for the new management, which was Erik Ten Hag at the time. He stated specifically that Ten Had is the right fit for the United job. However, this confession did nothing to change his mind about his decision to depart the club.
There are speculations that Nemanja Matic has or had this opinion of the Manchester United manager because he understood that the team needed strict and stern leadership to instill discipline in the United squad.
At the end of the last season, 34-year-old Nemanja Matic opted to leave Manchester United, turning down the option of a one-year contract extension. There was a previous error in the contract details, as when Matic signed in July 2020, it was initially stated that the deal ran until 2023. However, it was later clarified that the Serbian’s contract was, in fact, for a minimum of two years, with the option for an additional year.
Nemanja Matic, the former Chelsea player, left Manchester United on a free transfer to join Roma, where he reunited with his former manager Jose Mourinho. This move meant that Matic did not have the opportunity to work with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
