19 Feb 2024 00:00:52
We are playing well at times, and at others holding on a bit.
But we are gaining momentum, and if we can keep getting over the line then we can catch those above us.
Mainoo, Garnacho and Højlund are the three who are really dragging us over the line and making the difference.
Two things seem to have made the biggest difference this season. Mainoo starting games has given us a player who can take the ball from the defence and progress it to the forwards. The other is Garnacho making the right hand side his own. He has taken the place and always adds something to the performances. Even when he doesn't directly score or assist, his hard work and potential threat does enough to create more space for others. Højlund seemingly being the biggest beneficiary of having more time ans space on the ball, along with a player who'll go on the outside and then look to create a chance rather than shoot.
It would be so typically Manchester United to have spent over 1.5bn on building a squad and yet have two academy lads be the spark to save our season.
19 Feb 2024 05:52:56
I thing Garnacho has been very poor the last two games. terrible decision making and poor finishing. we are getting attacked down the right side every game by opposing teams and Dalot doing a lot of work and looked shattered yesterday. if you watch garnacho defensively he is always too far off the ride side threat he never closes down a player and there are far too many crosses coming in front the right side.
19 Feb 2024 06:52:42
Garnacho isn’t always too far off. Most games he’s put a real shift in and has quite noticeably sprinted back and got himself into the correct position. A couple of weeks back he was almost crawling off the pitch due to the shift he’d put in.
In the last two fixtures he’s looked dead on his feet and it’s clear the boy needs a bit of a rest. He’s started every game for some time now. It’s a shame we don’t have another RW close enough to his level to allow him that rest. Personally I wouldn’t be too sad to see him rested against Fulham so he’s in better shape for the Derby.
19 Feb 2024 06:59:14
Ahmad, Garnacho is 19 years old playing in his second season of professional football. He has also only made 7 appearances for the club on the right. We have won 6 and drawn 1 (the 2-2 against Spurs) .
Does he make mistakes from time to time? Yeah sure of course he does. He's a kid learning his trade, they all do. He'll learn to improve his defensive covering, and his end product will also improve.
With Garnacho on the right we've scored 18 goals in 7 games. Averaging 2.5 goals a game. 1.1 goals higher than our season average of 1.4 goals per game. Highlighting how much more of an attacking threat we are with Garnacho on the right hand side.
Defensively we have conceded 9 goals in those 7 games, which equates to 1.2 goals a game, down slightly on the 1.4 goals conceded per game season average. So statistically we concede less with Garnacho on the right.
Of those 9 goals conceded 6 have come from set-pieces (one of which was that b******t penalty Vs Wolves) . While 2 have come from attacks down our right hand side where you could put some of the blame on Garnacho.
So he's been partially to blame for 2 of the 9 goals conceded in the 7 games he's played on the right hand side, while we are undefeated in those games (6 wins, 1 draw), and have scored 18 goals, an increase of 1.1 goal per game on average above our season per game average.
So while he makes a few mistakes individually, I'm inclined to forgive him those due to the massive improvement in the team with him playing on the right and the fact that he is a young kid who will make mistakes as he learns.
For me personally a massive part of what makes Manchester United special and different to other big clubs is our commitment to giving youth a chance, to developing young players and making stars not buying them.
You can't do that without those young players making mistakes.
Giggs made similar mistakes as a teenager, as did Ronaldo. Garnacho will continue to make them as he grows, learns and develops.
What is totally evident though is that the team is far better with Garnacho making occasional mistakes on the right than we are with any other player in our squad playing on the right.
Maybe Antony would track back more diligently, or be closer to his full back denying the opposition space. But he would be absolutely not threat in attack, and the team would be significantly worse by his presence.
Garnacho doesn't need to be the guy who scores or assists in every game to make an impact (although 4 goals and an assist in 7 games is pretty good) . His mere presence and attacking threat means the opposition have to mark him more closely creating space for others to score.
Garnacho has proven beyond a doubt that he is the best player we have to play on the right hand side. He will learn and develop, improve and become better with experience. He'll only get that by playing, and he's playing on merit right now, and the team are all the better for it.
19 Feb 2024 07:16:10
Definitely promising signs, front 3 look very lively but midfield is still a major issue, mainoo apart, we are too easy to play against and leave so many open spaces.
Also the reason academy players look so good is they are still taught the technical fundamentals of the game there, which is something we have not prioritised when it comes to external recruitment.
Look at Jonny Evans, Martinez apart probably our most comfortable centre back on the ball.
19 Feb 2024 08:20:24
Shappy
I am not going t0 get into stats or age mate. He has had poor games. He is looking to run forward all the time which is good but sometimes when you are under pressure you need to calm that desire and stay in position and not leave Dalot stranded on his own dealing with two guys.
People will forgive you if you are banging them in but offensively he is not and also not picking the right pass when we look like we should be creating a very good scoring opportunity.
There must have been 10 occasions yesterday where a second goal would spell trouble for us where I thought too easy for Luton on the right side and he is not close enough to the Luton players on the ball to put any pressure on them. Dalot was stuck having to defend the guy on the ball and the another luton player who was wide who could run behind him.
19 Feb 2024 08:38:07
Ahmad, you make me laugh. You criticise Garnacho, mostly for his alleged defensive inability, (which I dispute btw), whilst championing Rashford as a world class player. Funny old game.
19 Feb 2024 09:15:56
I actually thought Garnacho worked hard yesterday to support Dalot. As the game opened up I suspect he was asked to stay a bit higher as an outlet to hit on the counter which he did on a number of occasions. My only criticism of him yesterday was that I thought he was a little wasteful on the ball and made the wrong decision but this will improve with age and experience.
19 Feb 2024 09:56:40
One of the areas Garnacho has improved the most is his defensive side of the game.
19 Feb 2024 10:20:26
I seen absolutely nothing promising about Rashfords contribution yesterday.
I thought he was the laziest player on the pitch AGAIN!
Wondering about when we didn't have the ball in sulk mode.
If PSG come in with a big offer for him ii would sell him in a heart beat and use the money to but Mitoma and keep Garnacho on the right.
Hoijland, Garnacho and Mainoo were brilliant again, never stopped running for the team.
Casemiro was shocking. looked like he was running in treacle, looked overweight.
19 Feb 2024 10:31:14
Fizz
I don't have an agenda against any united player like you do with rash. I just say it as it is. if you think Garnacho was good yesterday we are watching a different game.
I watched rash second half and he was playing much deeper to help lindelof on the left side, If people are blind to see it then they just don't get it.
Garnacho and Bruno are culprits of giving the ball away far too many times, poor decision making, poor passing in bad areas of the pitch and causing issues for us. I would rate both of them a 3 on yesterdays performance. Cas was poor too imo and glad he got yanked.
You think its a coincidence they had 17 of 22 crosses from the right hand side or maybe something to it. Could not be because lindelof is a better fullback than Dalot.
Both need to get a lot better when we come up against the better teams or we will get punished.
Funny how Hoiland says Rashford and Bruno best players he has played with so cole, yorkie, rooney and a host of other players who all consistently have this opinion of him must be all blind.
United has a fanbase who live on looking for things to get on players backs.
19 Feb 2024 11:49:57
I said a few weeks ago that it would be interesting to see Garnachos running stats. Looks to me like he is giving everything to the cause, is one of our dangerous players who causes real problems to the opposition. You said we have a fan base who live to get on players backs yet give overly negative criticism to Garnacho, a young exciting talented player giving his all on the pitch.
I said a long time ago annd Shappy echoed it, Giggs was like this and Ronaldo. There is a big development step ahead for Garnacho, if he takes it we may have a world beater like Ronaldo or perhaps just less like Giggs. I can bet he will learn, that step is the one you look to great players to make.
I am right behind Garnacho, Mainoo and Hojland their flaws as they learn.
19 Feb 2024 12:42:22
Or Ahmad… is it because Doughty is Luton’s best crosser of the ball and that is the tactic they’ve deployed recently?
Honestly your agenda against Garnacho but constant defence of Rashford is making you seem a little clueless. I understand your mate Dwight Yorke gets in your ear but he also has an agenda which is clear when you listen to him speak.
Garnacho (and Hojlund and Mainoo) have arguably been our biggest positives this season.
In fact I’d say Garnacho is our most improved player this season. If you recall at the start of last season he had some disciplinary issues. He was reprimanded. He’s pulled his socks up and now has the full trust of the manager. That’s how it’s done. None of this sulking around like The Belfast Bebe, or woke little cabbage brain Sancho who I guess you’ll also defend as he’s Rashford’s mate.
19 Feb 2024 13:45:45
Good post wazza.
Garnacho will learn and his final ball will improve. The comparison above with giggs and ronaldo is far from accurate both are miles ahead of where garnacho is at the same age in terms of their development.
He is trying very hard has a great attitude and if he can improve his final ball he could turn into a very good player.
To say he has been worse than rashford is maybe your opinion. It's an opinion born out of bias and is an opinion of 1. Ellen Ebenezer else sees something different to you ahmad I think it's obvious that rashford is not playing or trying or contributing anywhere near as much as garnacho over the past few games and all season imo.
You have taken a position you are not for changing but imo you look ridiculous standing all alone on your soap box.
19 Feb 2024 13:58:14
Agreed sim01975. Have you seen that clip doing the rounds where he let's Barkley dribble past him in the last few minutes?
19 Feb 2024 14:03:32
Wazza
No agenda but you can't give a free pass to one and look for anything to criticize another one. There are no free lunches on the football pitch.
Is Hoiland is not my mate and never met him but him saying the same thing, he plays and trains with these guys everyday.
19 Feb 2024 15:35:32
Ahmad give it a rest please. Your reply to me above puts words in my mouth. RTFP!
19 Feb 2024 16:01:04
MancMan - i actually noticed that live during the game and got out of my chair screaming at the tv.
His attitude is just dreadful, it must drive Ten Hag mad watching that week in week out.
Such a bad attitude.
19 Feb 2024 17:11:51
Fizz
I get the love fest for one player and the dislike for another. I like being an outlier, most of you had all thrown in the towel 4/ 5 weeks ago and season is over. sack the manager and sell 3/ 4 of the team. Fickle bunch and one bad result i expect to be back to the same convo. yawn.
19 Feb 2024 19:08:47
Ahmad, sorry fella. Big Rashford supporter over the years, but if you seriously watch these games, and try to make out that Garnacho is more of a problem than Rashford just now, then I despair.
19 Feb 2024 19:36:39
Says it all really.
Sky article rashford gives barkley free rein
20 Feb 2024 09:06:50
When you see that 'press', and he behaves like that a lot, you wonder how he gets as many minutes as he does. That right there in a nutshell is Rashford showing utter disrespect to the badge, the club, the supporters and football in general. Disgusting. And still you defend him Ahmad?!