Erik ten Hag claims Man Utd’s Alejandro Garnacho has skill that few in ‘world football’ can match

Erik ten Hag has claimed there are few players in the world who can match Alejandro Garnacho’s direct dribbling.

The young winger put in a superb display in the latter stages of Manchester United’s FA Cup win over West Ham United on Wednesday night as the Red Devils progressed to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win at Old Trafford.

Garnacho came to life in the latter stages and regularly skipped past Ben Johnson at right-back, while his penetrative runs saw Lucas Paqueta pick up a booking for a challenge on the Argentinian. Garnacho sealed a fine display by bending a shot into the top corner in the 90th minute, which looked set to the winner, before Fred netted a third with United’s final touch of the night.

Garancho was selected as the player of the match after the game, and Ten Hag praised the teenager’s ability to carry the ball after the game. “That [dribbling] is one of his skills,” said the United manager.

“It is a great skill when you are fearless, when you are brave. He is one of the players that I think has a skill that is so specific. There are not many players in world football that take players on, who are capable of just going at players and out-dribble them.

“But he has more skill than only that, for example, finishing. I also see he has a big engine. He is fast and has speed, but he can keep running for 90 minutes or 120 minutes.”

Ten Hag also revealed his blunt words to Garnacho before the game, where the Dutchman explained the United no.49 must have the same impact when starting games as he does after coming off the bench.

“I see today another step,” opined Ten Hag. “I tell him before the game ‘you had an impact when you come on, but now you need to have impact as a starter’. I think he is capable of it and that is the next step he needs to take.”

The win sets up an FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford against Fulham, with the tie set to be played on the weekend of 18/19 March.