Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has commended Jadon Sancho and how he has handled his mental struggles after starring in Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.
The English winger caused problems for PSG’s defence and won admiration from fans and pundits who have not seen him at such a level while at Manchester United.
The 24-year-old struggled for form since moving to Old Trafford from Signal Iduna Park in the summer of 2021 and was moved back on loan to Germany after falling out with United boss Erik ten Hag.
Sancho had documented problems with his mental health during his time at Old Trafford which saw him away from the the pitch for an extended period of time, and Henry re-emphasised the challenges faced in dealing with mental health.
“We all know that he struggled mentally at Manchester United. The power of the brain and how you can be as a professional… when you’re not well here [in the mind], or at home, or whatever it is, you cannot perform. I don’t care where you are or who you are or the talent that you have,’ Henry told CBS Sports.
“You can see that things are a bit better up there, whatever the struggle was with him, because to do what he did tonight… I think at Manchester United he played 48 games and only dribbled past a player seven times. He did that in the first ten minutes tonight.
“All I can say is: don’t underestimate that. Mental health is not an easy thing to deal with and you can see that when someone is well up there then they can perform, so well done, big man.”
"Mental health is not an easy thing to deal with, and you can see when someone is well, they can perform."
Thierry Henry has high praise for @Sanchooo10 and his performance this evening 👏 pic.twitter.com/goZYXpqGk7
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 1, 2024
Henry added that it was necessary for Sancho to make the loan move.
“You need to feel the love, you need to feel that you’re important and you can’t lose your football just like that,” the ex-France international stated.
“We all know that it happened to me, sometimes when you’re not well you cannot perform on the field, whatever situation you have outside.
“More often than not we are very critical on guys that don’t perform because you are at a big club and you don’t perform, but you tend to forget about what’s happening outside the field.
“If that’s not right then you’re not going to perform well and that’s why I think it was an amazing choice for him to go on loan back to Dortmund where he knows maybe that the light wasn’t going to be too much on him at the very beginning.
“He needed to go back into a certain performance, going back to playing games, having minutes in his games and you can see what it does.
“When you have minutes, the balance is right in your head, everything is okay outside of the field, you’re okay mentally, then you can perform. What he did today… wow!”
Sancho has featured 17 times in all competitions since returning to Dortmund, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
