Manchester United played four times in the month of November before the commencement of the six-week World Cup break. And if fans are asked which player impressed the most in that period, the answer would be a pretty resounding one.
Alejandro Garnacho has exploded into life in the past two weeks, scoring twice and providing two assists and generally exciting the fans with his dribbling and pace.
He opened his senior account by scoring the winner against Real Sociedad in the Europa League before becoming the youngest United player to assist twice in the same game when he did so against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.
Garnacho shining bright
Even more impressively, Garnacho came on as a substitute and scored a last-minute winner against Fulham in United’s final game before the World Cup break.
The Argentine’s fearlessness has certainly endeared him with the Old Trafford faithful and at this moment he possesses something different when compared to United’s other wingers.
Argentina coach Scaloni: “There’s a possibility that our 26 man list for the World Cup could change. Let’s see”. 🚨🇦🇷 #WorldCup2022
“There are players who are not 100% well. We want to be cautious. We want to see their evolution”. pic.twitter.com/0Wmh7Od8BP
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 16, 2022
He is direct, has the ability to take on his man and go both ways and is a deadly finisher. Quite the combo to have for an 18-year-old. Erik ten Hag has said that Garnacho can become a regular in the first XI if he keeps this up.
The United academy graduate can count himself unlucky for not being able to impress national team manager Lionel Scaloni enough to be named in Argentina’s World Cup squad.
Scaloni had named his 26-member squad last week and unfortunately for the Madrid-born winger, he was not named in that prestigious list.
However, the chance has not fully evaporated if the coach’s latest comments are anything to go by. After Argentina’s impressive 5-0 hammering of UAE, Scaloni said modifications to the initial list are a possibility.
Scaloni told El Sol, “We have days to decide. There are some players who are physically troubled. The truth is that we are not sure that these 26 players are all in the squad, luckily, we have days to decide if we have to make any modifications.”
Garnacho could make Qatar cut
La Albiceleste have four injured players in their ranks and out of these four, three are attackers. The players are — Paulo Dybala , Nicolás González , Alejandro “el Papu” Gómez and Cristian Romero.
Out of the three, Dybala, Gomez and Romero are expected to be there but for Gonzalez, the chances are not looking too good at the moment.
“The regulations allow that list of 26 players to be modified up to 24 hours before the team’s debut. That is to say, that in the event that modifications are decided, they should be reported as a last resort next Monday at 7,” the report further added.
And that means Garnacho could yet be a last-minute addition to the Argentina squad. And it would certainly be the right decision due to his skill-set, fearlessness and the X-factor he would bring to the team.
