Alejandro Garnacho is once again becoming Manchester United’s game-changing X factor. A player who made his name as an impact sub and then started 39 games in a row is now often back amongst the replacements and ready to change a game. It’s something he has to do more often than Ruben Amorim would like.. Garnacho is only 20 but has already made 123 appearances for United, but his club career has been through different eras. From those early days as an impact player to threatening to break into the elite level in the second half of last season and early weeks of this campaign, to January and a window where his days at Old Trafford almost ended.. The Argentine only signed for United when he was 16, but he is still considered an academy graduate. His dazzling displays in the FA Youth Cup triumph of 2021/22 forged a strong relationship with supporters. That bond has remained, with Garnacho one of the standout performers last season in a dismal campaign.. Scoring in the FA Cup final win against Manchester City strengthened that feeling, and with eight goals already this term, he is on for his best season, which was last season’s 10. But he has struggled to fit into Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system and is back to producing his best from the bench.. He came on at half-time against FCSB in Romania recently and injected some pace into United’s attack. On Friday, he was called on to perform a similar role against Leicester City and helped turn the FA Cup fourth-round tie around. It was telling to listen to Harry Maguire reveal that the rest of the squad had clearly expected the attributes that he would bring.. “He is ready, he is focused and we knew at half-time that he would probably add a little bit more directness and pace into the team. Josh also came on and I thought he had a big impact on the game,” he said.. Maguire also praised Garnacho’s ability to come on and impact games.. “It’s a great mentality from him tonight,” he said. “I’m sure he was frustrated not to start the game, he wants to play every game but when he does come off the bench he always has a huge impact on the team.. “He did it in the Europa League last midweek with Amad, he changed the game there and tonight he’s come on and changed the game. He had a huge impact.. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to be called an impact player and he wants to be playing from the start but credit to him, he was mentally right, mentally focused and he came in with a great attitude and he definitely helped us win the game.”. Maguire was critical of United’s first-half performance and it was another extremely forgettable 45 minutes at Old Trafford. They mustered two shots from distance and three touches in the Leicester City penalty area. The attack was pedestrian and predictable.. Garnacho changed that, just as he did in Romania and just as his teammates had predicted he would. Can Amorim afford to ignore that much longer? In fairness, he did start between those two games and failed to inspire much during a drab defeat to Crystal Palace.. But Kobbie Mainoo’s confidence looks low at the moment and Garnacho and Amad are the only players bringing any pace to United’s forward play. There is a feeling that Garnacho isn’t a natural fit for Amorim, not just in terms of not yet fitting his system as a No.10, but as a player who is a little unpredictable.. He is coming on in one of those central roles behind a striker but doing his best work when he drifts back to the left. Time and again he beat Leicester right-back James Justin down the outside, creating attacking opportunities that hadn’t been there in the first half.. United now have another week-long break before they face Tottenham next Sunday. In those training sessions at Carrington, Amorim needs to get the attack clicking, and Garnacho could be vital to that.
