Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will not rush Jadon Sancho back, even if it means fighting against his own impatience.
Sancho started this season in encouraging fashion but has not played for United since the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on October 22.
He was an unused substitute eight days later against West Ham and then left out of United's squad for their training camp in Spain during the World Cup.
Ten Hag lifted the lid somewhat in mid-December as he said Sancho had been absent due to "circumstances with fitness and mood".
Sancho spent time working to an individual training programme in the Netherlands with coaches known to Ten Hag during the Premier League's hiatus, and he has since been back at United, training alongside fringe players.
It was early December when Ten Hag initially said he could not "give a prognosis of when" Sancho would return, and while the England international is apparently making progress, the manager is still unable to provide a definitive answer.
"I would like to have Jadon back as soon as possible," Ten Hag told reporters ahead of Friday's FA Cup third-round clash with Everton. "I will do everything that's in my power, but some processes you can't force and this is one of them.
"So, I have also to show patience, although I don't have the patience because we have a lack of opportunities in the frontline, players who are available and capable to contribute in the Premier League – not only the Premier League but the highest standard of top football.
"Jadon is one – when he is fit. He will contribute and then we have an extra option and so we will have more chance of winning a lot of games.
"We have some hurdles to take, but I think he's [going] in a good direction. In this moment he is not fit enough, no. I said physical, but physical is also the connection with mental.
"He is now making good progress on the physical part and that will help him. I hope he can return quickly, but I can't say how long it will be."
Ten Hag was asked to explain how a Premier League footballer can suddenly become absent for such a prolonged period despite not being injured.
With Sancho's absence seemingly related to his mental wellbeing rather than physical health, Ten Hag pointed out the importance of treating the individual's needs as opposed to using a one-size-fits-all approach.
"Many top athletes, in football and also in other sports, sometimes it's good to go away from the place where you are at daily to get a new vibe and a new experience," he added.
"People have a different approach and this can give you the right push to get back on track. Football players aren't robots. No one is the same.
"I think for everyone, you need an individual approach. We thought that, in cooperation with Jadon, it was the best choice."
Emiliano Martinez says being Villa’s penalty hero against Lille was ‘destiny’
King of the dark arts Emiliano Martinez said it was his destiny to be the penalty shootout hero as Aston Villa booked their spot in the semi-final of the Europa Conference League
The Argentina goalkeeper, who helped his country win the World Cup 18 months ago in similar circumstances, produced more heroics against Lille, saving spot-kicks from Nabil Bentaleb and Benjamin Andre to earn a 4-3 shootout win after the quarter-final had ended 3-3 on aggregate.
There was plenty of his trademark gamesmanship on show as he shushed the baiting French crowd, who had not forgotten what happened in Qatar, and then caused confusion by receiving a yellow card from the referee in the middle of the shootout, having already been booked in normal time.
But bookings are not carried forward into the shootout meaning he could stay on and send Villa into a first European semi-final since 1982.
“It has been a hell of a ride all of my career. I am a believer and a hard worker and it was my destiny today,” he said on TNT Sports.
“I always say in all my career, I owe my team-mates in those moments, even when we were watching Real Madrid last night the manager was saying we might go to penalties and in those moments I own my box.”
On the shootout drama, where he was shown a yellow card by referee Ivan Kruzliak, he said: “It’s all about reputation for time-wasting because the other goalie was doing exactly the same thing.
“I got a yellow after 30 minutes and we were losing the game so I don’t know what the ref wants from me.
“Then there was no ball in the penalty spot and I was asking for a ball from the ball boy and I get booked; I just don’t understand the rules.”
Martinez’s heroics rescued Villa as they were not deserving of victory, having been outplayed for the majority of the second leg in France, with goals from Yusuf Yazici and Andre overturning a 2-1 first-leg advantage.
Matty Cash’s 87th-minute strike sent it to extra-time, with Martinez coming up trumps in the shootout to give boss Unai Emery an eighth successive European quarter-final victory.
View this post on InstagramThe Spaniard, so prolific in the Europa League with Sevilla and Villarreal, will be eyeing another European trophy.
And with Villa leading the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League which would achieve Champions League qualification for the first time in the club’s history, the Argentina international says something special is on the horizon.
“This group of players and the managers are special, the owners get involved as well, they are always behind us,” he said.
“It feels like we are going to do something special, I don’t know if it’s Champions League or I don’t know if its Conference League but we try to do everything we can to push the football club.”
Aldershot move into play-off places with victory at 10-man Gateshead
Kwame Thomas headed Aldershot into the National League play-off places in a 1-0 win away to a Gateshead side who played almost half the match with a defender deputising in goal.
Gateshead had goalkeeper Nathan Harness sent off in the 47th minute for bringing down James Daly outside the box and, with no stopper on the bench, Louis Storey went between the posts for the rest of the night.
Storey made a good save to keep out Cian Harries’ free-kick in the 51st minute, but could do nothing as the visitors took the lead 10 minutes later.
Thomas got on the end of a looping cross from Josh Barrett to head in, and it proved enough for a win that puts them one point above FC Halifax, who host Oldham on Thursday.
Respect the process – Cesc Fabregas committed to long-term plan at striving Como
Cesc Fabregas says Italian club Como must remain committed to their long-term plan even if their progress is expedited by winning promotion to Serie A this season.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder is assistant manager at the lakeside club and, working under Welshman Osian Roberts, has guided them into the automatic promotion positions in Serie B.
They currently have a three-point lead over third-placed Venezia and if they do not falter in their final five games they will return to the top flight of Italian football for the first time since 2003.
The club have been declared bankrupt twice since then, but the 2019 takeover by Indonesian company Djarum Group heralded a new dawn.
They are owners with big ambitions and they sought out advice from people in the game, with Thierry Henry and Fabregas becoming minority shareholders, while former England international Dennis Wise has also acted in an advisory role.
Fabregas is currently earning his full coaching badges and his goals are aligned with the club’s.
Returning to the top tier of Italian football has always been the plan, with further ambitions of titles and European football in the coming years.
But Fabregas insists that will only happen if they “respect the process”.
“We are pushing, we have a clear vision of where we want to go, where we want to get, we know who we are,” he told the PA news agency.
“We know where we are at the moment and we need to respect the process, take the right steps.
“We are working well, people are very dedicated, the owners are investing well and smartly.
“We are all on the same page, evolving every single week to try and create this family, this union, let’s see where we are at the season.”
When Fabregas joined Como as a player in the summer of 2022, it could have been easy to think he was easing into retirement in an idyllic part of the world.
View this post on InstagramBut that would not be fitting with his work ethic and drive, which sees him one day wanting to be a manager in his own right.
“I agree that Como is beautiful but if I am being honest my life is work, home, work, home,” he said.
“Then when I am home I try to be with my family. Even if I was at the end of the world or in another place my life would not change that much.
“Como is beautiful, we appreciate it so much but my job and my life doesn’t change too much.”
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