MANCHESTER CITY OUTCAST, NOW EUROPE'S MOST WANTED.
Jadon Sancho is a Phenomenon that has struck Footballing world by storm. This article is specifically written to highlight why this storm is so destructive and where will it be heading next.
Jadon Malik Sacho born on 25 March 2000 is an English professional Footballing superstar who plays as a winger for both Borussia Dortmund and England National Team. Started his Footballing career as a youth player at Watford and then at Manchester City. He won the fifa U- 17 World Cup with England National Team along with some other notable players in that teams like Phil Foden (Player of the tournament) and Rhian Brewster (Golden Boot winner). Due to lack of playing time as promised by Manchester City, Jadon Sancho then decided to move to Borussia Dortmund. He signed for Dortmund in 2017 and made his debut at the age of 17years and 210 days vs Bayern Leverkusen. Sancho quickly went on to repay the faith that Dortmund showed in him, he scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists in 2018/19 top provider in Bundesliga that season. He also made 108 successful dribbles, most in Bundesliga in 2018/19.At the age of 19 years and 151 he became the youngest player to reach 15 Bundesliga goals. So what makes him so good? Why has he been so effective?
POSITION
Jadon Sancho belongs to the class of those rare wingers that are good on both feet thus Sancho can play in both Right and left side of the wing. Lucien Favre uses Jadon Sancho as a RW/LW in his 4-2-3-1 or as a LM in his 4-1-4-1 because of his ability to play with both feet. Sancho positions himself near the by-line from there he then either cuts inside or take the outside root and then cuts it back to his teammates.
DRIBBLING AND PLAYMAKING ABILITY
Well everyone who has seen him plays knows how good a dribbler he is , me made 108 successful dribbles in 2018/19 - most in Bundesliga. He makes 2.6 dribbles per 90 this season and has completed 59 dribbles ( 25 games). But why is a dribbler so special? Why do we rate dribbling so highly? Dribbling does not mean you only beat your next man , yes you do beat someone with some good skills when you are one on one, but more importantly when you dribble you attract more and more defenders towards you which in turn frees up space in other part of pitch. Football is all about space , you crowd up somewhere and your free up space somewhere else. Playmaker can be someone who passes the ball into a space where teammate free and can benefit from it or can free space up for his teammates himself . Jadon Sancho is one such Playmaking Dribbler. These are some examples how he frees up space for teammates.
ACCELERATION
Along with dribbling Sancho also possess some lighting fast speed. Last season (2018/19) Sancho clocked a top speed of 34.6 km/hr , quickest for Borussia Dortmund. But its not just his pace that is so spectacular but it is his ability to carry the ball at such high speeds that baffles us. If defenders are not aware he can lose his marker in a flash. Along with his pace he possess some quick feet that helps him to get better of his opponents .
TECHNIQUE
Sancho's technique and his ball control ability is at another level. He makes everything look so simple and easy but they are not. Its quite hard to find a player with such technical brilliance . At many instances he uses his brilliant first touch to take player out of the game and sometimes just to gracefully control the hard passes . Well if you don't believe us then take a look at these
KEY PASSES AND VISION
What do we understand when we talk about key passes ? Killer pass , perfectly timed pass , pass with perfect curve , dipping through ball or a pass that takes out bulk of opponents? Key passes are those which help in creating a goal scoring opportunity or which directly leads to a goal. Sancho is blessed with the vision and ability to pick out teammates in space and provide key passes, and consideration that he has teammates like Reus and Haaland who are quite potent finishers you will end up bagging assists, thus he has 15 assist, at the time of writing, this season in the Bundesliga.
DECISION MAKING & COMPOSURE
This is where it gets tricky. Decision making is the most important attribute in football. This divides footballers into categories of legends , average and ordinary. A defender who makes decision to rush into tackle becomes ordinary whereas those who keep their composure becomes legends. Attacker that just shoots at the site of goal because due to adrenaline becomes ordinary . So why is Sancho's decision making so good.
Jadon Sancho is one effective finisher , classy dribbler and a potent passer so with so many options his decision making becomes more and more vital. Sancho does not always cuts inside from wing position but some times he also takes outside root and hugs to the by-line and then gives a cut back , and he always makes the right decision either to cut inside or outside.
Here Sancho has gone past the defenders but finds no support , however he doesn't shoot , keeps his composure holds the pass and then cuts it back.
Here Sancho has no support again , he can't pass nor he can't shoot so he again takes the outside root , finds an opening and then uses his technique to score a beauty.
CLINICAL FINISHER
Jurgen Klopp talking abiut Harry Wilson said that finishing is a gift , you can't teach someone where to shoot , either to the right of goalkeeper or left , its just comes to you naturally. Same applies for Sancho too. Jadon Sancho has scored 15 goals from 45 shots (3 shots per goal) where as strikers like Lewandowski has scored 25 goals from 108 shots (4.3 shots per goals) this show clinical finishing ability of Sancho .Finishing is what it is , no need to describe further. Sancho's finishing in games are outstanding , just take a look and enjoy.
HOW CAN HE IMPROVE ?
When you are so good why try to improve? Well improvement isn't an option in case of Sancho but being consistent is , performing at same level with same concentration is important. Football has seen some brilliant wonderkids doesn't turn up to the level they should have , maybe due to injury, nightmare transfers or just lack of dedication. Players like Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has shown what we can achieve if we are consistent enough.
WHAT NEXT? WILL HE LEAVE DORTMUND?
Well we will think about it later . Its a topic for another Th!nk Football post.
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