Amorim laughs about Garnacho’s ‘punishment’

Amorim laughs about Garnacho’s ‘punishment’

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has clarified the situation around Alejandro Garnacho’s substitution in midweek.

The young Argentina international was taken off against Ipswich Town at Old Trafford just before half-time, for tactical reasons, after Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu was shown a straight red card. 

On a night of heavy Manchester rain, Garnacho walked straight to the dressing room following his departure and, in the post-match interviews, Ruben confirmed he would speak to the player about that decision. 

As Amorim explained during his press conference on Friday afternoon, all has been made clear with the player and, amusingly, the head coach revealed Garnacho has a small punishment to pay. 

Part one: Press conference v Fulham Video

Part one: Press conference v Fulham

Press conference part one | Ruben began by providing the latest squad news for Sunday’s Emirates FA Cup tie…

“Yeah, he came to me,” Ruben told reporters when asked. “It was funny, the next day he came to my office. I did some investigation and he went to the dressing room [during Wednesday’s game] to change his clothes because he was wet. 

“He watched the game in a different [place], not on the bench, and at the end of the game he went home so there’s not an issue there. But I told him that in Manchester United, everything is important and perception in every club is really important. 

“So, he is going to pay a dinner to all the team and that is it.”

Later in the press conference, when asked about players handling criticism, Amorim pointed to the fact Garnacho is still only 20 and learning all the time. 

“He is a young kid that will learn,” said the boss. “The important thing was that the next morning, he was speaking with me. I think we need to see small things, walking out of the pitch, because [Joshua] Zirkzee did the same thing and the context was different. 

“But it was the same thing. So, we have to understand the situation, the context, the age of the players. Of course, they have to be better and understand the perception here is really important but you can deal with that the next day and move on. So, let’s just move on.”

Friday’s press conference moved on to the subject of modern footballers being exposed to criticism and Amorim admitted it is hard for the current generation to deal with social media. 

“I think it’s completely different for the players nowadays,” he explained. “Before, it was two newspapers and nothing more. With social media, it’s completely different. 

“They are so focused on social media. You can’t go to social media without seeing news or a photo or if you read something bad, you focus on that. You can have 100 good things, but then one bad thing and you focus on the bad thing. 

“I think it’s really hard for them, you can call it soft, but they have that access to criticism and it is really, really hard to deal with that. They need help to deal with that so it’s the [way of] modern football, and they have to be prepared for that.”

As you may have read in our team news article, Ruben confirmed Garna will face a late fitness test after picking up a knock in midweek.

“Yes, he has a knock. When he went to shoot, when it was blocked almost inside the box [against Ipswich]. He has a knock, I expect him to be ready but we will see, I have to wait until tomorrow.”

Recommended:

Back to Top