Ten Hag Sets ‘Focus’ Challenge For Man Utd Wonderkid Garnacho

Alejandro Garnacho has been challenged by Erik ten Hag to “concentrate” and has been told he needs to “learn a lot.”

The 18-year-old Argentine sensation is having a breakout season at Old Trafford, scoring three goals in 23 appearances across all competitions.

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The most recent of those occurred in a 2-0 Premier League victory over Leeds, where Garnacho responded favorably to being benched after criticisms about his attitude and performance in recent matches against the Whites and Crystal Palace were raised once more.

When asked about the criticism that has been leveled at Garnacho by MUTV following a heartening victory at Elland Road, Ten Hag responded as follows: “It’s normal. 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 in 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.”

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Five minutes from time, Garnacho scored United’s second goal against Leeds to secure the victory. After eluding his defender and finding himself one-on-one with Illan Meslier, he sent the ball off the post with a cool finish.

Garnacho will be looking to stand out in Ten Hag’s mind as United takes on La Liga giants Barcelona in the first leg of a heavyweight Europa League knockout play-off round matchup on Thursday after making a significant contribution off the bench against Leeds.