Sancho’s form has dipped.
Image credit: Chelsea FC
Jadon Sancho’s inconsistent form at Chelsea has led to a disagreement between former Blues John Obi Mikel and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
While Mikel criticized Sancho for “deceiving” Chelsea fans with a strong start before fading, Wright-Phillips defended him, attributing his struggles to a lack of confidence.
Sancho impressed early on, delivering assists and earning a Player of the Match award in a win against Bournemouth.
However, he has since managed just two goals and one assist in his last 19 Premier League games.
Speaking on his Obi One Podcast, Mikel didn’t hold back:
Jadon Sancho, he’s come on, and he’s deceived us with a couple of games. We thought, ‘Oh, f*****g hell, now we’re getting the Jadon Sancho from Dortmund.’ But he’s gone again. I don’t know what’s happened to Jadon. He’s disappeared.
Off the grid. He takes the ball. He doesn’t go past people any more. He doesn’t create chances anymore. He doesn’t help the team as much as he should be. And [Noni] Madueke is now injured as well.
This is when players should step in and take responsibility and say, ‘You know what, listen. Now, I have the opportunity to play week in and week out, and I need to be ready for it. I need to help the team with assists and goalscoring,’ and they’re not doing that.
Jadon needs to step up. I don’t know what’s happened with Jadon, but Jadon Sancho needs to wake the f*** up. The Premier League is the toughest league in the world. If you don’t do it here….
However, Wright-Phillips, who played alongside Mikel at Chelsea, believes the 24-year-old is simply struggling with confidence and will regain his form. Speaking to Tribal Football, he said:
Confidence is a massive thing. You can see in elements of his game that he tries to make things happen. If you look at his past, before he joined Man United, whatever he did also worked. That builds confidence to make him do it again and again until he creates a chance or gets a shot or even scores a goal. It will come in time.
Recalling his own experiences as a winger, Wright-Phillips added:
I was a winger myself, and there are elements in his game I recognise from going through periods of things just not happening.
He just has to put his head down and keep going because we know he’s got the ability. You can lose your pace, you lose confidence, but your ability to do things is always there; it’s just a matter of getting it out.
Chelsea, who started the season well, have struggled in recent weeks, suffering defeats to Brighton, Manchester City, and Ipswich Town.
Mikel also criticized the club’s recruitment strategy, particularly their handling of Joao Felix:
For me, the recruitment process has been really, really poor. You brought back Joao Felix from wherever the f*** he was. You brought him back to the football club and let him go after three months. What is going on?
Right now, the depth should be more for the money that has been spent. You don’t have healthy competition as a centre-forward. It’s not good enough. We need consistency.
Rashford and Sancho meet away from Old Trafford 😭 #ShowmaxPL pic.twitter.com/kQn1za27Kc
— Showmax Naija (@ShowmaxNG) February 22, 2025
Chelsea will look to turn things around when they face Aston Villa in their next Premier League fixture.