Patrice Evra has heaped praise on Erik ten Hag for the discipline he has instilled in the squad - as shown by the management of Jadon Sancho.
The United winger returned to action for the first time in 2012 days on Wednesday, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute in the 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win over Nottingham Forest. Ten Hag had cited a lack of fitness for the 22-year-old's omission from both games and first-team training, sanctioning an individual training programme in the Netherlands while the rest of the squad went to Marbella in December.
Sancho returned to training just over a fortnight ago as he continues to build up match sharpness, and Wednesday's introduction was met with joyous cheers around Old Trafford and a beaming smile from the player, who found time to crack a joke with Ten Hag on the sideline - a moment missed by many but one that highlights the respect he has for Ten Hag, even after being left out of action for so long.
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"It's been quite weird because we feel like Jadon Sancho was out through injury, but it wasn't an injury," Evra told Betfair. "I feel the love for him, and the people are so pleased he's coming back. But he's coming back because Ten Hag wanted more discipline for him.
"So credit to him and credit to Ten Hag for putting him back on the right track and that shows you again the work that he's doing. I'm not joking, at one point I was like, ‘did we send Jadon Sancho on loan?’ Instead of Where's Wally I was playing Where's Sancho!
"I think Ten Hag wasn't happy with where he was at, it shows you again that discipline is important for him and he won't give anyone a free pass, if you're not fit and if he has to drop you for a month, he will do it. But again with Sancho, the new signing, Martial - everything I'm seeing right now at United makes me feel positive and gives me hope because we need a big squad and I hope those players will realise we need them, we need the squad.
"We can't only rely on 11 players if we want to achieve our goals of being in the top, and winning a trophy. I'm happy for Sancho, I'm happy for all the United fans, but I want to credit the discipline of Ten Hag. When I saw Sancho coming in and smiling with Ten Hag, I saw the discipline. That wasn't a fake smile."
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