Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho is “immature” and has let his family down this season with his performances.
That’s according to a former favourite at Old Trafford, who has given an astonishing assessment of the 20-year-old after what has been a disappointing season. Garnacho came close to leaving Manchester in January after agreeing terms with Napoli for an exit but remained a part of Ruben Amorim’s squad when moves for Antony and Marcus Rashford instead transpired.
Perhaps he wishes he had left England judging by what former United stars have to say about him…
“Alejandro Garnacho is letting Manchester United down because he is not taking advantage of the talent he was supposed to have”
Alejandro Garnacho broke into the Manchester United team in 2022, aged just 18, becoming a bright spark for former manager Erik ten Hag. Heavily influenced by Cristiano Ronaldo, the Argentina international has emulated his hero by winning the Puskas Award for his stunning bicycle kick against Everton and has frequently popped up with goals in key moments for the Red Devils.
But though he’s still recognised by FourFourTwo in our list of the best left wingers in the world, this season has been tough for Garnacho. The forward has failed to kick on from last term and is one of a number of players struggling under Amorim.
According to Paul Parker, however, Garnacho has no excuse – and needs to pull his socks up.
“We can’t keep using the excuse that Garnacho is young,” Parker told SpilXperten when asked about the talent, who turns 21 this summer. “He is not young anymore, at least not in football: before he knows he will be 30.
“Garnacho might be immature but he is not young anymore, and it is a massive disappointment that he is not performing at all. He is not playing like an adult and he is certainly not acting like an adult, and he has to have a good look in the mirror, to tell himself that he needs to stop thinking about being the next Ronaldo.
“He will never be that, so he has to accept the fact that he needs to work hard to get a decent career.”
Parker didn’t stop there, though. The former defender, who spent five years under Sir Alex Ferguson in the early 1990s claimed that he used to be a fan of the attacker but labelled Garnacho a “Ronaldo fanboy”, even going as far as to claim that he’d let “his family down”.
“I liked him when he came through and he had that Argentinian fire in his belly, which he has lost completely,” Parker blasted. “He has let himself and his family down. He has let his club down, because he is not taking advantage of the talent he was supposed to have.
“He can’t take on people, he is not quick enough, and he doesn’t want to work hard. So, what is he actually good at? At the moment, to me, he just seems like a Ronaldo fanboy, who would rather make a few highlights to post them on social media rather than winning football matches and make this club great again.”
Despite Parker’s comments, Garnacho is still a young player. He’s still just 20 years old.
Dips in form are to be expected at this age – especially with the majority of Amorim’s squad failing to produce this term – so while the no.17 is as ripe for criticism as a number of of his team-mates this season, singling out Garnacho for such a ferocious take-down does seem strange.
In FourFourTwo’s view, this kind of attack on young players like Garnacho isn’t particularly conducive to what Parker himself claims he wants in making “this club great again”. Garnacho is still barely 150 games or so into senior football – and it’s rare for players with such inexperience to be the ones carrying their clubs.
Looking at players like Antony and Rashford thriving out on loan, perhaps United have a bigger question around the culture at the club – with angry analysis from former stars aimed at individuals simply unnecessary when it comes to restoring the Red Devils to former glories.
