Bruno Fernandes reveals Alejandro Garnacho’s struggles at the start of the season were due to his attitude during the pre-season tour, with Paul Scholes suggesting he could have been a teenager who had become “too big for his boots” after Argentina’s call-up.
- Alejandro Garnacho scored Man United’s only goal in the win over Real Sociedad
- The 1-0 margin was not enough to ensure United finished top of the group
- Bruno Fernandes revealed after the match that the player’s app was not there
Bruno Fernandes has revealed that Alejandro Garnacho’s early-season struggles were partly down to his poor attitude during Manchester United’s pre-season tour.
The Argentine backed up his strong performance against Sheriff Tiraspol last week with another impressive performance, scoring his first goal for the club.
Despite their solid performance and United extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games, Erik ten Hag’s side could not grab the second goal they needed to avoid the play-off round of the competition with those who dropped out of the Champions League.
Bruno Fernandes revealed Alejandro Garnacho’s pre-season bid isn’t there
Speaking after the match, Fernandes expressed his disappointment at not achieving his goals but praised Garnacho who he said was finally applying himself in the correct way.
“He was good, he knows we expect a lot from him,” Fernandes said. “He is still very young, he is doing very well.”
“He was not at his best at the start of the season, on the [pre-season] tour, he didn’t show the attitude he should have, but now he’s training better and getting his chances. He deserves those chances.
The Argentinian teenage sensation was part of Manchester United’s squad for their long tour of the Far East and Australia
Paul Scholes, on expert duty for BT Sport, speculated after the match that those attitude issues could have stemmed from the young Argentine becoming ‘too big for his boots’ after having been called up to the national team.
“He said it was pre-season, didn’t he, so he was obviously a bit big for his boots in the summer. I think he left with Argentina, maybe playing with [Lionel] Messi, he came back and thought it was me, I’m part of this team.
“He’s a young boy, he’s going to learn. His attitude has changed and we see the benefits of that, now he looks like a very top young player.
Garnacho scored his first goal for United as they won 1-0 at San Sebastian – a result not good enough to secure them top spot
Meanwhile, Fernandes said there were some positives to take away from San Sebastian but they were disappointed not to finish ahead of Real Sociedad.
“Obviously our target today was to win by two goals, we knew we needed that. We had a great game, we tried everything.
“At the end we took a few more risks, to score the second goal, but we won the game. It was a great victory against a tough opponent – as I said, it didn’t bring us into top of the group, which was our goal before the game, but it’s still a win.
Fernandes was deployed on the right side by manager Erik ten Hag in a tactical move when questioned by Scholes and was reluctant to admit it is a position he is comfortable in.
“I play wherever the coach needs me to play. I try my best to help the team, that’s not my position,” he said.
United will be drawn against Barcelona, Sevilla, Juventus, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon, Red Bull Salzburg or Shakhtar Donetsk in Monday’s draw.
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