Alejandro Garnacho - A Spark of Mercurial Talent for Man United
Things haven't all been smooth sailing for the 18-year-old, however, for his attitude and fiery reactions have often been questioned, with his recent outburst after he was substituted particularly striking. "When you don't understand what is happening, remember that God is in control. I trust the plan you have for me," he posted following being taken off in Man Utd's 2-2 draw vs. Leeds United.
When asked about the prospect's comments, Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag responded in a measured fashion, stating: "I don't think it's about that he doesn't understand the decision. He's quite emotional. That is the strength he is bringing to the game. That's a good thing. You need that under the biggest stress factors that you have to perform and he's doing and he wants to contribute to the end. But he accepts decisions and the team is always above everything and I think he knows that."
The youngster importantly responded in the best way possible, with him coming off the bench to find the back of the net to help propel his team to a 2-0 victory over Leeds.
"He’s a young player and he has to learn a lot. We saw on Wednesday he was making great actions but not finishing. I think he had to finish at that moment. It has to do with focus but also with preparation. Today it was the same. In the first minutes he was not in the game and you have to be ready. After the first goal he improved and showed his great skills, his pace, his dribbles, his timing and it was a great finish too," insisted ten Hag after his game-changing impact.
Improving all the time as he adjusts to the elite Premier League level and gaining vital experience with every passing week, it's little wonder why many United fans are relishing seeing him strutting his stuff.
Such a wizard with the ball at his feet and boasting an explosive turn of speed and rapid change of pace and direction, the winger's proven a real handful for defenders to combat. Executing his dribbles at such speed means defenders can't react quickly enough to stop the jet-heeled attacker.
It's also been notable how he can outfox foes or buy time to cross or shoot by using his handy array of maneuvers such as stepovers, feints, cuts infield, stop gos and spins.
Loving every chance he gets to be isolated against his direct opponent out wide, where he can go either side before deciding what to do, it also warrants mentioning how he can win fouls, draw multi markers, make room for his nearby fullback to underlap and generally unbalance backlines due to his unpredictability.
Oozing confidence, two-footed and adding so much directness, especially in transition, where he can rapidly gain territory and enjoys charging at backpedaling defenses, he's given United a real X-factor both when starting matches or coming off the bench.
It's also noteworthy how he adapts his receiving posture depending on the opposition, as he knows when he can turn, twist away from the pressure, or has to use his body to protect the ball.
Although he can be a touch overzealous in his attempts to bypass opponents and needlessly turn the ball over, the positives attached to his ball carrying certainly outweigh the negatives.
The technically proficient Argentine youth international contributes heavily with his passing as well, for he has a keen eye for breathing life into attacks and unlocking defenses. Great at engaging in intricate combination play in and around the box, switching the angle of attacks, firing in incisive crosses and cutbacks and launching through balls in behind, his creativity adds to his menace.
Even though, just like with his dribbling, there are times when he's made the wrong decision or shown poor judgment, this is to be expected in a player so young and is something he'll be working hard to address.
A capable finisher, who can find the back of the net in many ways and never afraid to back himself, he's underlined how dangerous he can be when given time and space to shoot from a variety of locations. Be it scoring with long blasts, instinctive finishes, decisive 1v1s and with power or placement, much encouragement can be extracted from his prowess here even if he can be a touch erratic and ambitious (as shown by his shot map below).
By the numbers so far, it’s admirable how well he fares when compared with star teammates Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, in a range of metrics, with him notably holding the ascendancy in terms of assists per 90, expected assists p90, crosses p90, crossing accuracy, dribbles p90, successful dribbling percentage, offensive duels p90, touches inside the box p90, progressive runs p90, successful attacking actions p90, shots p90, second assists p90, successful defensive actions p90, defensive duels p90 and sliding tackles p90.
