Alejandro Garnacho on adapting to Amorim, Ronaldo comparisons and his United future

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Alejandro Garnacho is having to get used to playing a different role under Ruben Amorim and on the eve of Manchester United’s Europa League semi-final second leg he found himself in another new position.

Never before has Garnacho addressed media in a pre-match press conference, which meant that several areas of interest could now be discussed. He handled the questions with composure beyond his 20 years, an age that can be forgotten when he plays week after week for United.

We will get to the subject of Garnacho’s future, which was unsurprisingly brought up first. Before that come the important days ahead and what part he will play.

Garnacho has come through United’s academy playing on the wing, where his stamina on transitions marked him out and continued into the first team. But under Amorim he is a No 10, typically operating more inside. Amorim prefers patient build-up play to end-to-end action. That change has required adaptation from Garnacho.

“It’s difficult for everyone when, in the middle of the season, a new manager comes in and we change the formation,” he said. “But we just need to follow the rules and I try to improve every day.

“Obviously, the manager knows the characteristics of the players. You see the games, many times I play wide on the wing and the wing back is coming inside. What we try to do depends on the players we have and we are improving as a team also.”

Garnacho has been a threat wide on the right at times recently. At Real Sociedad he set up Joshua Zirkzee with a low cross and he scored at Newcastle United after driving onto Diogo Dalot’s pass following neat build-up. He caused Athletic Club issues in the 3-0 first leg win, always ready to run into space, but timed his dart beyond the backline slightly wrong to see a goal ruled out.

On the left of the No 10 positions, he ran down the flank to cross for Mason Mount’s goal at Brentford, and then cut in himself to fire a late consolation. These have been brighter moments after a period when he would often turn into traffic of midfield, something that is ill-suited to his game.

“It’s a little bit hard but it’s just the mentality,” he said. “My first two months, November and December were very difficult for me, but my mentality is to keep working, to keep trying and show to the manager and staff I have to play.”

Garnacho has had to adapt to Amorim’s style (Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

Garnacho has done that, starting the last 13 matches in a row. His numbers stretch back further, though. He has missed only one game out of the past 100 matches for United, starting 74.

That absence was the Manchester derby at the Etihad, when he and Marcus Rashford were dropped from the squad by Amorim over training performances. The two cases were always considered different by people at the club, with Garnacho responding well to the sharp jolt and gaining Amorim’s faith.

“Obviously we have to work hard to be in the squad and then I have to train well every day and be available for all the games,” Garnacho said.

Garnacho went 24 games without scoring in that period, from December to March, but he now has 11 goals and 10 assists in all competitions (counting his excellent goal at Wembley in the Community Shield), his highest figures yet. Out of players under 21, only Lamine Yamal and Desire Doue have more goal contributions this season in Europe’s top leagues.

The Argentina forward has quietly built a relevant body of work in a historical context. He needs one more goal or assist this Premier League campaign to equal Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 25 goal involvements in the competition before the age of 21. Garnacho has made 91 Premier League appearances for his 24 goal involvements, while Ronaldo made 82. Garnacho is 21 on July 1.

Garnacho played it cool on the comparison with a player whose celebration he has replicated when scoring, and is concentrated instead on what he needs to improve.

“I’m not focused on the numbers,” he said. “When Cristiano played here, he’s a different footballer and different types of games, I just try to help the team and win games.

“Obviously, on missed chances, we are training really hard, me, Rasmus (Hojlund), all the strikers in the team, so we are improving and trying to do better.”

Garnacho’s attacking output has improved (Vasile Mihai-Antonio/Getty Images)

The understanding between Garnacho and Hojlund has appeared strained at times. “I speak with him a lot, we try to help each other but sometimes from this side it’s difficult,” Garnacho said. “We train hard to score more.”

Being selected for media duties is a sign United feel he is now mature enough to handle the environment — he sensibly left alone a question on his feelings towards Amorim calling this United team the “worst in history” — and executives think there is sufficient temperature out of his personal situation, which was hot during the January transfer window.

Napoli made a £40million bid and Chelsea registered their interest. United did not rule out a potential sale given the uncertainty over Garnacho’s suitability to Amorim’s system and his value in cash terms and on the balance sheet due to counting as pure profit.

Those elements are still live, but Garnacho is beginning to show his worth to this team. And the sense is, ideally, he would like to stay, albeit a new contract to reflect his status would be required this summer, given he signed his current deal in April 2023.

“As a footballer, you are always going to listen and hear some rumours about the future,” he said. “But I have a contract here until 2028, so I’m happy here.”

(Top photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

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