Erik ten Hag faces the biggest test of his authority at Manchester United since Cristiano Ronaldo's exit

It was only ever really going to end one way with Jadon Sancho from the moment he hit 'post' shortly after Manchester United's loss to Arsenal.

The United winger's rebuke of claims he had been below-par in training could have been taken as a 'heat of the moment' reaction, had it not been pinned to the top of his X profile as recently as Tuesday. For nine days it was the bookmarked post and when it was eventually removed, the damage had been done.

In urging fans not to believe everything they hear or read and insisting he had been competent in training, Sancho effectively claimed that Erik ten Hag had lied. The Reds attacker directly contradicted his manager's claim that poor performances during the week saw him left out of the squad to face Arsenal.

And so when the pair met earlier this week for talks, the end result seemed to be already written on the walls. United confirmed on Thursday evening that Sancho would train alone, their 21-word statement saying far more when reading between the lines.

United ban Sancho from first-team training

Ten Hag has never shied away from stamping down his authority at United, regardless of the severity of offence. He didn't use Alejandro Garnacho at all during last summer's pre-season tour after the then-18-year-old turned up late for multiple team meetings.

He also left Marcus Rashford out of the starting line-up to face Wolves in December for the same offence - albeit just the once, and he ended up netting the winner off the bench. But the biggest test of Ten Hag's authority came from Cristiano Ronaldo.

The veteran forward refused to come on as a substitute in a match against Tottenham in October last year, the latest of several spats between player and manager. In November, he lit