One disappointing Manchester United star failed to prove Roy Keane wrong with his performance against Manchester City on the weekend.
Manchester United played out a goalless stalemate against rivals Manchester City on Sunday afternoon and might feel they were unfortunate not to secure the win.
Ruben Amorim’s men showed continued improvement in their overall performance, but their long-standing problems in the final third resurfaced.
Despite creating some decent opportunities, they lacked composure and precision in front of goal. Even if there was an extra 30 minutes on the clock, it felt like neither team would have scored.
United did generate chances but once again players were unable to succeed in their final actions inside the opposition penalty area.
Garnacho fails to prove Roy Keane wrong vs City
One player guilty of poor final third play was Alejandro Garnacho, who was disappointing in the game despite being heavily involved with a lot of United’s attacking play.
Even though he had some decent moments in the lead up to chances, the Argentine once again faltered when approaching the City box.
The worst moment came in the first half when the 20-year-old failed to connect with Diogo Dalot’s perfect cross to the back post.
Before the game, Roy Keane suggested that there are “huge question marks” over Garnacho’s end product and the winger failed to prove those doubts wrong in the derby.
“Garnacho, I think recently there’s been some huge question marks over him,” the ex-United captain said on Sky Sports.
“I think he makes some decent runs, he is a threat and tries to run in behind but his end product has been so poor this year, particularly in recent games.
“That’s an area of his game [he has to improve] if he wants to stay at United and compete towards the top, end product is key.”
United’s next steps for Garnacho are clear
It’s hard to say when things will ‘click’ for some of these players. Garnacho would certainly be a very dangerous player if he could finish the chances he gets on the end of.
However, that is a similar story for a lot of players and you cannot guarantee that every one of them will take that big step forwards.
The main thing United should be concerned with is getting better players in the door. There is no need for Garnacho to be a consistent starter at this point in his career.
He has previously shown that he can be very dangerous off the bench and that should really be the role he returns to, with an improved option playing ahead of him.
That means that there’s less pressure on Garnacho while he still isn’t the finished product. Then if he can develop that killer instinct in the final third, he can push for a place in the side.
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