Former Manchester United Under-23s manager Neil Wood doesn't think Alejandro Garnacho is ready to figure in the first-team on a regular basis.
Class of '92-owned Salford City appointed Wood as their manager in the summer and that signalled the end of the coach's successful stint at Old Trafford, during which he helped 17 academy players make their first-team debuts.
Wood spent three years at United as the head coach of the club's U23s and he played a key role in the development of Anthony Elanga, Shola Shoretire, Dylan Levitt, James Garner and Ethan Laird among others.
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Zidane Iqbal, Charlie Savage and Alejandro Garnacho were the latest academy players to make their debuts last season and Wood, who now manages in League Two, was recently asked about the development of Garnacho.
Although Garnacho made his first-team debut against Chelsea in the Premier League last term, his first full start came in the Europa League last week. Wood, however, thinks academy game time still has a part to play in Garnacho's development.
"He’s got good attacking flair and there’s real potential there," Wood told The Athletic. "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. 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. 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."
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