Former Manchester United coach Neil Wood has questioned Erik ten Hag's decision to throw Alejandro Garnacho into the first-team fold.
The 18-year-old made his United debut back in April in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea, and made a further four substitute appearances before he was handed his first start in the Europa League clash against Sheriff Tiraspol.
Garnacho impressed throughout and looked a thorn in Sheriff's side, with his pace and invention on the left-hand side. Although he wasn't rewarded with any goals and assists, it was a performance which generated plenty of buzz. Garnacho's former youth coach, Neil Wood, shares the excitement surrounding the Argentinian - but is worried being fast-tracked into senior football may harm his development.
Wood, who left his role as United Under-23s manager to become Salford City boss this summer, told The Athletic : "I get that fans like to see young players thrown in but I don’t know if throwing him into the first team is the best thing to do. The standards are so high, you can’t be expected to turn it on immediately at Old Trafford, but expectations are high for young players. Too much too soon can damage a player’s development."
Wood's comments came after he outlined the talent Garnacho possesses and the next steps he feels he must take in his development. He said: "He’s got good attacking flair and there’s real potential there. We saw glimpses in the youth cup last season. His next challenge was to do that in the under-19s Champions League against Europe’s best, but the team aren’t in that. He had a little bit of that last season but he was in and out of the team.
"He’s still got a lot to learn and a lot of development to go through. He’ll be up against some good full-backs in the under-21s league who will test him for pace, work rate and concentration. They are the next challenges for him.
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"There’s no doubt he has talent, can score individual goals and that he’s good at dribbling. That’s one of his main attributes but there are areas he needs to improve – his passing, keeping the ball, protecting the ball, hiding the ball when he’s dribbling, being more productive with his end product, creating more assists. There’s loads more to come, but he’s still young and hasn’t been at the club for long."
United now need to beat Sociedad by two or more goals to top the group - meaning they will avoid playing an extra two games in February. The second-placed team in the group will play a team who finished second in a Champions League group to go through in the Europa League.
