With Ruben Amorim set to take over as head coach on 11 November, all he could do was watch on as Manchester United took on Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend. Interm manager Ruud van Nistelrooy called the shots as the Red Devils played out a 1-1 draw with the Blues.
The game was level until the 70th minute when Rasmus Hojlund was fouled by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, allowing Bruno Fernandes to score from the spot. That lead lasted just four minutes, with Moises Caicedo levelling with a fantastic volley. Truth be told, it was a game lacking quality and the one other major talking point was Lisandro Martinez’s nasty foul on Cole Palmer in the dying embers of the game, with the Argentine lucky not to be sent off.
However, one different incident would have almost certainly caught Amorim’s eye and he would not have been happy with what he saw. The guilty party was Man United winger Alejandro Garnacho and his performance in general would not have impressed his future boss.
Garnacho Dissapoints vs Chelsea
Earned wrath of Casemiro
With the score level at 1-1 in the 85th minute, Man United came forward hoping to find a winner. Garnacho picked up the ball in space with Noussair Mazraoui overlapping but ignored the run of his teammate. Instead, he cut inside and lost possession, allowing Pedro Neto to bomb forward on the counter.
The Argentine put in a half-hearted attempt to track back, but the Chelsea forward quickly sped away from him. Consequently, Casemiro was forced to take one for the team, chasing down Neto and cynically fouling him to prevent a counter at the cost of a yellow card.
Footage caught the Brazilian berating Garnacho, absolutely furious with his teammate. Presumably, the midfielder was unhappy with the winger for not only losing the ball, but then not doing enough to help diffuse the resulting Blues attack.
Amorim likely would have seen this incident and taken note. The Portuguese manager will have to quickly assess his squad and work out who best fits into his 3-4-3 system. With the Red Devils lacking left-sided defenders, but the new boss needing a left-wing-back, there is a chance Garnacho could one day be asked to play that role. However, his efforts against Chelsea may well leave the 39-year-old concerned about just how much he can trust the Argentine to do his defensive work.
At times, Amorim asks his team to drop off and sit deep without the ball. As noted by coach Vitor Campelos – who has come up against the departing Sporting Lisbon manager numerous times – Amorim has wing-backs drop in to form a five-man defence when out of possession: “When [Sporting] are defending, it is 5-2-3.”
Regardless of where exactly Garnacho plays for Man United, he will be expected to work hard and deliver going forward and contribute defensively under his new boss. Against Chelsea, however, he did neither.
Garnacho’s Work-Rate Quesioned
Amorim won’t be impressed
As the stats show, the £50k-p/w forward had a poor game against the Blues on both fronts. Picking up a lowly 6.4 rating (the fourth-worst on the pitch for those who started), he was sloppy in possession, losing the ball 11 times and completing just 76% per cent of his passes. He also missed one big chance and was caught offside twice.
On top of this, he struggled to help his team win the ball back, completing just one out of nine attempted duels. He was dribbled past once – and did not win any tackles, or make any interceptions or blocks. Undeiably it was a bad day at the office for the Man United winger.
Interestingly, Gary Neville also questioned Garnacho’s work-rate off the ball. He slammed both the Argentine and Marcus Rashford for their efforts, saying: “Garnacho and Rashford – I have to point towards them today. They can do a lot more off the ball. I’m not interested in what they do on the ball – honestly, I’m really not. I’m interested in whether there is a spirit to fight for the team all the way through the match.”
Neville explained that he sees rivals wingers like Bukayo Saka, Leandro, Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli at Arsenal], as well as Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden for Man City, and Liverpool forwards, all put in a defensive shift but it’s not the same from Garnacho and co.
If United are to get back to the standards expected of them under Amorim, the new manager will almost certainly demand his wingers to work just as hard as those at Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and other elite clubs. With that in mind, he will not stand for what he saw from Garnacho vs Chelsea.
Stats via SofaScore.