Man Utd came from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth-round and it was a superb night for Alejandro Garnacho.
Garnacho’s work rate
It was a night when Alejandro Garnacho had to work for his rewards, but how sweet they tasted when they finally arrived for the Manchester United winger.
It said a lot about his performance that he stayed on when Antony was hooked for Marcus Rashford. Garnacho looked United’s most dangerous attacker all night, running at Ben Johnson throughout. He forced Alphonse Areola into a first-half save by cutting inside and just surging past his man.
But what also caught the eye was his desire and his work rate. It’s worth remembering he was disciplined by Erik ten Hag on the pre-season tour for being late. He looks a transformed character since then.
The bleach-blonde hair is catching the eye now, but so is his work on and off the ball. He was up against Pablo Fornals for much of the game and matched the diligent Spaniard. Tracking back to his own dead-ball line to constantly thwart West Ham down their right.
It was an impressive part of his game and suggested he is starting to put it all together as a winger. He can still bulk up and become more consistent, but he’s getting there. The fact Ten Hag left him on said it all.
Casual defending
The United players stood near the ball when Thomas Soucek let it drift towards the touchline before West Ham’s goal had an excellent view of the event, but the three of them nearby committed the cardinal sin of switching off and presuming the decision would go their way.
The linesman was a long way from the incident and while Antony, Casemiro and Diogo Dalot stopped playing, the visitors didn’t. Casemiro and Dalot belatedly switched back on, but Antony just gave up entirely. He stood there while Said Benrahma ran infield, collected a pass from Emerson Palmieri and scored.
United complained immediately and lined up for a throw-in. The ball did look like it might have been over the line, but it was difficult to say conclusively. The fact is, had United kept playing they might have stopped the goal.
Half-time subs
United’s starting XI must be starting to get nervous when they walk back to the dressing room at half-time given the propensity of their manager to be ruthless at the break.
Erik ten Hag has now made 18 substitutes at half-time this season and against West Ham he shuffled his pack at the break for the fourth game in succession. Players might be hiding in the toilets at this rate.
The changes against Leicester City and Barcelona elicited better attacking performances. Jadon Sancho replaced Alejandro Garnacho in the league game and then Antony came on for Wout Weghorst in the Europa League. At Wembley it was a sensible decision, swapping Aaron Wan-Bissaka for the booked Diogo Dalot.
On Wednesday night it was about improving a poor first-half performance. Ten Hag gambled by making so many changes but United struggled to progress the ball, an area Casemiro excels in. They were also a little vulnerable through the middle as Scott McTominay and Marcel Sabitzer tried to develop an understanding.
Maguire’s decision making
As a centre-back maybe your decision-making becomes sharper the more games you play, which is the kind way of saying Harry Maguire made the wrong call when he flew in on Michail Antonio just before the half-hour mark.
The 29-year-old just needed to get tight to Antonio, stop him turning and slow any potential breakaway. Instead, he slid in to try and win a ball that never looked winnable. It was as obvious as bookings come and it came in a challenge 60 yards from his own goal. That’s never good for a central defender.
It put him in a difficult position for the rest of the game and although he managed to avoid getting himself exposed against Antonio for the rest of the game, it was a moment he won’t look back on fondly.
Rotation
Ten Hag has been something of a reluctant rotator this season. He made seven changes against Real Sociedad in September, saw United lose 1-0 at home and kept alterations to a minimum this season, with the exception of the Carabao Cup win against League One Charlton.
So making six changes for a game against a decent Premier League side, who were playing a strong team, felt like a good barometer of the progress within the whole squad since the early weeks of the season, rather than just in the outstanding starting XI.
It was hardly a conclusive pass if this was a test, but United got the job done and that’s more than they managed earlier this season.
Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
