It might not have gone down well with gnarled old pros but when Ruben Amorim tried to make excuses for the behaviour of Alejandro Garnacho, it was perfectly understandable.
The last thing Amorim needs to do is paint Garnacho as some sort of spoiled, troublesome nuisance whose talent is not worth the hassle he causes a manager.
Judging by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting crusade, such is their financial predicament, Amorim and Manchester United are going to need every penny they can get when they sell Garnacho. And calling out Garnacho for being a bit of a brat is not going to increase his value.
For what it is worth, I believe - and have often said - that Garnacho is the sort of exciting young player that should, in theory, be a key part of an Amorim rebuild. But what is clear is that United need to raise transfer funds and they will get good money for the likes of Garnacho rather than for the likes of Casemiro.
And judging by the tantrum he threw when hooked during the win over Ipswich Town, Garnacho is becoming something of a pain to deal with. The 20-year-old might be paying for a team dinner by way of an apology for storming into and staying in the dressing room last Wednesday, but there is every chance it will be a last supper.
The mitigation offered by Amorim that he is a ‘young player’ and it was cold and wet was as miserable as the weather that night. Garnacho turns 21 in July, he is a father, he is a senior Argentine international. Footballers grow up quickly. At least, some do.
It would be no surprise if a big Spanish club - perhaps his former home of Atletico Madrid - took a gamble on Garnacho this summer. United would sell, that much seems certain.
Because amidst the talk about Garnacho on Friday, Amorim had this to say: “We need to make some deals to make some deals.” Confirmation of what we all knew but a stark reminder, all the same.
And, quite frankly, it would have surprised few people in football had Amorim suggested that EVERYONE in the current squad has a price. Considering they were down to 10 men for over half the game, it was a good Premier League win against Ipswich but the overall standard of performances under Amorim reinforce the idea that this manager almost needs to start from scratch.
Here’s a scenario. What if Sir Jim Ratcliffe approached Amorim and asked him to list the players he would not want to sell under ANY circumstances? Perhaps Bruno Fernandes… and that’s it.
As it happened, Amorim spent a chunk of his pre-FA Cup tie press conference defending Fernandes from critical remarks made by Roy Keane. The Portuguese coach did a fine job of it. And that is probably because Amorim knows that if there are any current players he can build a new Manchester United around, his captain is one of them. Considering his precocious talent, unfortunately, Garnacho is not.
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