Alejandro Garnacho image 17

Alejandro Garnacho Argentina flag

2024-25 Performances


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5.5 Season Average Rating
Appearances
54
Goals
11
Assists
10
Yellow cards
5
He was our best attacking player last night. Was visibly tired in ET and the decision making became poor but I thought he was excellent during regular time. He is a willing runner and gives his all during the game. It's hard to find a 20 year who is this relentless. His decision making can be poor at time and needs a lot of improvement still. I have no doubt that it'll come to him, whether it's at our club or somewhere else.
 
He was our best attacking player last night. Was visibly tired in ET and the decision making became poor but I thought he was excellent during regular time. He is a willing runner and gives his all during the game. It's hard to find a 20 year who is this relentless. His decision making can be poor at time and needs a lot of improvement still. I have no doubt that it'll come to him, whether it's at our club or somewhere else.
I thought he was mostly to blame, offensively at least, for what ended up putting everyone through the ringer. He simply has to be told to stay on the right hand side.

What I don't understand with him is why he seems to not care about the team scoring - every time he passed in decent areas (from memory twice, pass to Hojlund who set up Bruno for the shot and then he got the assist) it generally surely tells him to do it more often because the end result is usually pretty good.
 
Think someone needs to put an arm around him and tell him to play the team game. I appreciate he is young and ambitious, but some of the shots he takes on have about 0% chance of going in. It’s just dumb.
 
Excellent for the first goal and generally looked a threat, but classic Garnacho a lot of the time.
 
Great run, sends defender the wrong way and then fails to score from great position. Classic Garnacho. Thankfully we won though. Other than that miss I did like his performance and especially assist.
 
He has the ability to be a really good player, the only thing holding him back is he himself. When/If he learns to play for the team he will go from a promising youngster to a really good player.
 
One of his better performances this season, should've put the game to bed and had some selfish moments, but better.

I really believe he shouldn't be starting games, ideally, we have someone ahead of him and Garna gets sub appearances and the occasional start, would be so much better for his development.
 
He's 20, he plays like your average really talented 20 year old. He doesn't know his limits, makes bad decisions etc.

The difference between him and most 20 year olds is he plays on a team with massive pressure and exposure you expect at a top club, but without any of the great players around him so the club doesn't need to rely on him to play like he's not a 20 year old. This is going to be his second 50 game season in a row, that's too many games and too much responsibility for a player like Garnacho. In an ideal world we'd be picking his opponents better, allowing him more space to learn and grow, but it is what it is. I just hope the fans eventually start to show a bit of patience with young players.
 
Also, anyone who is blaming him for us throwing away a 2 goal lead with 20 minutes to go, at home, doesn't deserve football. It's wasted on you.
 
He's 20, he plays like your average really talented 20 year old. He doesn't know his limits, makes bad decisions etc.

The difference between him and most 20 year olds is he plays on a team with massive pressure and exposure you expect at a top club, but without any of the great players around him so the club doesn't need to rely on him to play like he's not a 20 year old. This is going to be his second 50 game season in a row, that's too many games and too much responsibility for a player like Garnacho. In an ideal world we'd be picking his opponents better, allowing him more space to learn and grow, but it is what it is. I just hope the fans eventually start to show a bit of patience with young players.
Youth is only an excuse to an extent. He has so much experience by now that he needs to start making better decisions. Think back on the likes of Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, etc. when they broke through as teenagers. I don't remember them being anywhere near this selfish. At some point you have to consider whether he has the quality required in terms of decision making and composure.
 
Youth is only an excuse to an extent. He has so much experience by now that he needs to start making better decisions. Think back on the likes of Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, etc. when they broke through as teenagers. I don't remember them being anywhere near this selfish. At some point you have to consider whether he has the quality required in terms of decision making and composure.
Greenwood is easily still as selfish, so I think that's more on your memory than anything else. Martial also had his own host of issues which meant he really struggled after his breakout season. In reality 2 years is nothing, especially playing in two completely different shit teams. This is what I mean about supporters lacking patience, so Garnacho isn't as quick to learn as basically the most precocious wide forward the club has seen since Giggs broke on to the scene? Cool... doesn't mean anything.

Garnacho might develop the decision making required to be elite, he might not. He's doing fine as it is, it's the club that has the problem.
 
Greenwood is easily still as selfish, so I think that's more on your memory than anything else. Martial also had his own host of issues which meant he really struggled after his breakout season. In reality 2 years is nothing, especially playing in two completely different shit teams. This is what I mean about supporters lacking patience, so Garnacho isn't as quick to learn as basically the most precocious wide forward the club has seen since Giggs broke on to the scene? Cool... doesn't mean anything.

Garnacho might develop the decision making required to be elite, he might not. He's doing fine as it is, it's the club that has the problem.
Don't agree on Greenwood. He was a much more intelligent player coming out of the academy than Garnacho. And even if Greenwood took on many shots as well, he had a reason to. He could actually finish with both feet. Garnacho consistently tries shots he just shouldn't.

And of course the club is the problem. Garnacho should be a squad player for sub appearances and cup games. But in reality he is a starter right now, and it is possible to discuss his strengths, weaknesses and potential without slagging him off. The best thing that can happen for him would be that we sign quality players so we don't rely on him as much. The same goes for a few other players in the squad.
 
He definitely passes more when he's on the right (well I think so anyway since he isn't comfy cutting in and shooting with his left)
His one on one chances are always horrible finishes, yesterday included
However he's an outlet who keeps going whether it doesn't work or he's kicked up and down. He's a danger for opposition. He's still young in football terms and imo he's played more than he should have and that's on united and their inability to have a good squad

Still he has moments and we look less dangerous when he's off as we've seen last two games.
 
Don't agree on Greenwood. He was a much more intelligent player coming out of the academy than Garnacho. And even if Greenwood took on many shots as well, he had a reason to. He could actually finish with both feet. Garnacho consistently tries shots he just shouldn't.

And of course the club is the problem. Garnacho should be a squad player for sub appearances and cup games. But in reality he is a starter right now, and it is possible to discuss his strengths, weaknesses and potential without slagging him off. The best thing that can happen for him would be that we sign quality players so we don't rely on him as much. The same goes for a few other players in the squad.
Greenwood constantly shot from impossible angles when the pass was on. At least Garnacho get's into good positions most of the time.
 
Don't agree on Greenwood. He was a much more intelligent player coming out of the academy than Garnacho. And even if Greenwood took on many shots as well, he had a reason to. He could actually finish with both feet. Garnacho consistently tries shots he just shouldn't.

And of course the club is the problem. Garnacho should be a squad player for sub appearances and cup games. But in reality he is a starter right now, and it is possible to discuss his strengths, weaknesses and potential without slagging him off. The best thing that can happen for him would be that we sign quality players so we don't rely on him as much. The same goes for a few other players in the squad.
Again that's just flat out your memory failing you when it comes to Greenwood. He is one of the greediest players in world football. Garnacho doesn't need to shoot less, he needs to improve his finishing. You can't do that without trying to shoot. He's one of the few players who consistently gets into good shooting positions in the team.
 
Again that's just flat out your memory failing you when it comes to Greenwood. He is one of the greediest players in world football. Garnacho doesn't need to shoot less, he needs to improve his finishing. You can't do that without trying to shoot. He's one of the few players who consistently gets into good shooting positions in the team.
I mean this is blatantly untrue to anyone that's watched the guy for two years. You're acting like every shot he takes is a clear 1v1 with the keeper, when in reality many of his shots are failed attempts at cutting inside and ignoring better options.
 
Greenwood constantly shot from impossible angles when the pass was on. At least Garnacho get's into good positions most of the time.
Greenwood was also just a far better pure finisher, so it could be considered a better decision (not saying he wasn't selfish, moreso that certain players have a better reason for being selfish than others. Antony almost led the side in shots when he played last season, that is a prime example of a player that shouldn't be selfish at all).
 
I thought he was electric last night, gave his full back fits. When he plays like that I'm happy. Even if he misses a chance like he did when he got through, that is okay to me. Would have tied the game up but players can miss chances.

It's the fact that he looked able to control the ball consistently, dribble with it and even found good overlaps a couple of times.
 
I mean this is blatantly untrue to anyone that's watched the guy for two years. You're acting like every shot he takes is a clear 1v1 with the keeper, when in reality many of his shots are failed attempts at cutting inside and ignoring better options.
This is just you being silly.
 
In the league has goals against:

Leicester x2
Brentford x1
Newcastle x1
Southampton x1
Fulham x 1 assist

31 games and 6 contributions, which is nowhere near enough for an attacking player on a team that wants to challenge for major things, a third of his contributions in total for the year came against Barnsley and Leicester in the EFL cup.

Same could be said of all our forwards this season as well to be fair and I thought tonight he was our best attacking threat, but he’s so brain dead at times that he costs us in decent positions and should of really killed the game with a chance that seemed more difficult not to score.
A team that wants to challenge for major things shouldn't be dependent on a young player like Garnacho, obvioulsy he needs to improve but given the state of the team expectations are way to high
 
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Youth is only an excuse to an extent. He has so much experience by now that he needs to start making better decisions. Think back on the likes of Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, etc. when they broke through as teenagers. I don't remember them being anywhere near this selfish. At some point you have to consider whether he has the quality required in terms of decision making and composure.
Fully agree here. No question about the club being responsible for not having an alternative to take pressure off of him but with Garnacho it is a bit as with Rashford - if you collect so many games, appearances and minutes, the awe-effect that often is the result of being inexperienced is gone by now. Him making the decision he makes most likely isn't just down to him being inexperienced but probably down to him thinking he is slightly better than he is. Wouldn't be a shock given what players he played with.

It doesn't make him a bad player but it looks very likely that he is steering towards the trajectory of Rashford, a player who is called a winger but actually wants to solely play as a wing forward - getting on the end of things instead of creating for others. Thats not a problem per se but Garnacho simply isn't good enough as a player to be afforded such circumstances.
 
Again that's just flat out your memory failing you when it comes to Greenwood. He is one of the greediest players in world football. Garnacho doesn't need to shoot less, he needs to improve his finishing. You can't do that without trying to shoot. He's one of the few players who consistently gets into good shooting positions in the team.
Maybe he could start by shooting more in training instead of in-game situations where it would be much better to pass.
 
Yeah, same. Him and Yoro are two sides of the same coin. One in defence and one in attack. So close to being world class and the only thing keeping them from taking that next step is exactly the thing you’d expect to improve as they mature.
People in here though will say that his decision making will never improve :lol:
 
Can be equally exhilarating and infuriating in the same game. Often in the same minute. Sometimes even in the same move.

Did brilliantly to break free from the defender, hold him off, put him on his arse, and then can't put away the chance from 6 yards!

Any stat geeks out there have the xg for that chance?

Sometimes I think I wouldn't be too disappointed if the club sold him for a half decent price, but there's always a niggly thought that one day something might "click" with him and he'll become genuinely world class, and we'll be asking ourselves "why did we let him go?!"
 
He's 20, he plays like your average really talented 20 year old. He doesn't know his limits, makes bad decisions etc.

The difference between him and most 20 year olds is he plays on a team with massive pressure and exposure you expect at a top club, but without any of the great players around him so the club doesn't need to rely on him to play like he's not a 20 year old. This is going to be his second 50 game season in a row, that's too many games and too much responsibility for a player like Garnacho. In an ideal world we'd be picking his opponents better, allowing him more space to learn and grow, but it is what it is. I just hope the fans eventually start to show a bit of patience with young players.

Exactly this, he is up there with any 20 year old attacker out there at the minute and has typical inconsistencies that you would expect but he should not be expected to carry an attack at the top level. He has shown and contributed more than enough quality to have us nurture him, same goes for Mainoo. I will never be on board with any of these fans that want either sold - nurturing players like these 2 is what Manchester United is about. Hopefully Obi and Heaven join those 2 and Yoro as the youthful talent and we add some experienced quality to carry us forward and take the burden off these young players.
 
Give the boy a break.
So much talent and could develop into a great player. Ridiculous the criticism he gets here...
 
Maybe he could start by shooting more in training instead of in-game situations where it would be much better to pass.
Yes, famously doing something in training and then trying not to do it in games is a great system for coherent performance.
 
Yeah, same. Him and Yoro are two sides of the same coin. One in defence and one in attack. So close to being world class and the only thing keeping them from taking that next step is exactly the thing you’d expect to improve as they mature.
Garnacho is close to being world class? Jesus Christ.

Took his assist nicely last night and outside of the usually selfishness was decent for the most part. Would like to him bulk up a little over the summer because he's still so easily knocked of the ball, any competent defender breathes on him and he's on his arse but much better performance from him.
 
Yes, famously doing something in training and then trying not to do it in games is a great system for coherent performance.
Right, he couldn’t possibly improve his shooting without taking hopeless shots in important games. How would it even work?
 
Yes, famously doing something in training and then trying not to do it in games is a great system for coherent performance.

If you can’t see that his selfish tendencies are often a detriment to our attacking play, and that he is actually more effective and more dangerous when he actively involves other team mates, then I have to question whether you’re watching the games.

Yes, he needs to improve his finishing and shooting. But he also needs to improve his passing and decision making in the final third. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
 
If you can’t see that his selfish tendencies are often a detriment to our attacking play, and that he is actually more effective and more dangerous when he actively involves other team mates, then I have to question whether you’re watching the games.

Yes, he needs to improve his finishing and shooting. But he also needs to improve his passing and decision making in the final third. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
This is a nice pair of straw men you've built there. Although it's a bit of a weird one given the entire point of the post was that young players push their limits to find out where they are, which is why they have bad decision making.
Right, he couldn’t possibly improve his shooting without taking hopeless shots in important games. How would it even work?
Sorry, but that's just not really how training works.
 
Thought he played well overall. The set up of our squad is such that he is more important to us than a player of his experience and ability probably should have to be, which isn’t really his fault but does shine a glaring spotlight on his flaws at the minute.

We don’t have many players that are that direct or have the mentality of I’m going to try and make something happen here. His ego is something but it’s not like he’s strolling around the pitch. There was one point I think at 2-1, he picked up the ball and carried it into their half, the noise from the crowd was incredible, sounded like the ground was shaking.

He really, really should have scored at 2-0. I try to give players some slack when they’ve done so much to create their own chance and then miss it vs someone else putting it on a plate for them, but he should have finished that 100%. Thought he played with his head down after that as if looking for a goal to rectify it too hard. Felt like a real sliding doors moment when Lyon got back into it and it would probably have ended the game then but at the same time even at 2-0 and that miss our players shouldn’t be collapsing like that. Felt a bit like Antony hitting the post against Sevilla in 2023 at the time.

First touch for the Ugarte goal was exquisite.
 
Overall, Alejandro was outstanding but he really should have finished on the 1v1 from a hair outside the six yard box.
 
This is a nice pair of straw men you've built there. Although it's a bit of a weird one given the entire point of the post was that young players push their limits to find out where they are, which is why they have bad decision making.

Sorry, but that's just not really how training works.

You said “he doesn’t need to shoot less”. Watching our games would confirm that to be a pretty poor take - there are lots of times where he should be passing instead of shooting, which would result in him shooting less. That would generally be a good thing for the team.
 
Fantastic performance. Get him a competent striker to work with next year and the goals will flow.
 
He's about 5kph from being so much better. He just gets swarmed when he has the ball and you don't expect him to get the run on his man.
You do know he’s been wuoted st more than 35 km/h, so 40 puts him in 100m world class sprinter territory.

He struggles to maintain his top speed more than anything. And he needs to be smarter with his runs. He was caught once by his defender, but Garnacho was probably faster. It’s just that you need to slow down to finish. What he needs to do is use his momentum when he accelerates past his defender to put himself between the ball and the defender.
 
You said “he doesn’t need to shoot less”. Watching our games would confirm that to be a pretty poor take - there are lots of times where he should be passing instead of shooting, which would result in him shooting less. That would generally be a good thing for the team.
This is looking at the problem backwards and is just not really true. His shot volume is absolutely fine. He needs to get better at when he shoots, sometimes he takes too long, sometimes he doesn't shoot at all when he should. Sometimes he shoots when he needs to pass, but his role in the team is to provide end product and he needs shot volume for that.

Garnacho has 6.2 xG from 72 shots, the Caf darling for his place at the moment is Cunha who has 7.3 xG from 88. Garnacho's average chance is 0.086 xG, Cunha's is 0.083. Eze has 7.8 xG from 89 shots at an average of 0.087. Those players are 25 and 26 respectively. The main difference between Cunha and Garnacho is Cunha's having a freakish season in front of goal (which he'll never maintain, and is why we should stay well clear), Garnacho is not. But then guess who underperformed his xG season after season until he hit his mid 20's as well? Yeah... Cunha... These things take time.

He's well within the normal range for a team that relies on him as the main outlet on the break and can't dominate possession, arguably ahead given his age. He'll never work out how to get better unless he's allowed space to make those mistakes and learn from them.
 
This is looking at the problem backwards and is just not really true. His shot volume is absolutely fine. He needs to get better at when he shoots, sometimes he takes too long, sometimes he doesn't shoot at all when he should. Sometimes he shoots when he needs to pass, but his role in the team is to provide end product and he needs shot volume for that.

Garnacho has 6.2 xG from 72 shots, the Caf darling for his place at the moment is Cunha who has 7.3 xG from 88. Garnacho's average chance is 0.086 xG, Cunha's is 0.083. Eze has 7.8 xG from 89 shots at an average of 0.087. Those players are 25 and 26 respectively. The main difference between Cunha and Garnacho is Cunha's having a freakish season in front of goal (which he'll never maintain, and is why we should stay well clear), Garnacho is not. But then guess who underperformed his xG season after season until he hit his mid 20's as well? Yeah... Cunha... These things take time.

He's well within the normal range for a team that relies on him as the main outlet on the break and can't dominate possession, arguably ahead given his age. He'll never work out how to get better unless he's allowed space to make those mistakes and learn from them.

It’s not looking at the problem backwards, it’s looking at him booting it in to the shins of defenders repeatedly when he hasn’t had the guile or footwork to create a proper opening and yet still decides to still shoot anyway.

He’s repeatedly criticized for being too selfish and too often forcing a shot when he should pass. And that isn’t an issue everyone’s just made up. It’s come from the frustrations of watching him do this week after week.
 
It’s not looking at the problem backwards, it’s looking at him booting it in to the shins of defenders repeatedly when he hasn’t had the guile or footwork to create a proper opening and yet still decides to still shoot anyway.

He’s repeatedly criticized for being too selfish and too often forcing a shot when he should pass. And that isn’t an issue everyone’s just made up. It’s come from the frustrations of watching him do this week after week.
Sorry but there's not really an arguement there beyond "everyone says it". Nobody denies his decision making doesn't need work, he'll improve it by pushing his limits and working out what does and doesn't work.

The fact he's already making similar decisions to players fans are eager for us to sign kind of highlights how unreasonable it is.