15 November 2023 , 18:52
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Alejandro Garnacho has been told that his form has not been good enough to see him handed a place in the Argentina squad.
The Manchester United forward has shone at Old Trafford over the past two seasons after breaking into the first-team. That saw Garnacho rewarded with a full debut for his national side and he now has three caps to his name.
However, Garnacho was surprisingly left out of Lionel Scaloni ’s squad for the final international break of 2023. Asked why he had been left on the sidelines, the World Cup winning coach revealed that the 19-year-old had not been performing well enough to justify being included.
Speaking in a press conference, Scaloni said: “The reason for not calling up Garnacho? Ale’s non-selection is due to a form issue.. We don’t like to bring players in and constantly leave them out or leave them out of the squad. Everyone wants to be there and it’s great, but the human side plays and you have to make decisions.”
He has not totally closed the door on the youngster though and claimed that he still has opportunity to force his way back into the reckoning. Scaloni added: “It would have been easy to bring him in, but in the last few call-ups he didn’t get minutes and there are times when you have to make decisions, but he’s a guy who’s on our radar and he’s going to continue to be there and he has a huge future.”
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Garnacho has endured a rollercoaster of a season at Old Trafford. The Madrid-born forward has made 16 appearances for United this season, but has just one goal - that strike coming in a 3-0 Carabao Cup victory against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.
Alejandro Garnacho has three caps for Argentina (Getty Images)What has gone wrong for Alejandro Garnacho this season? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Speaking after that goal, Red Devils’ boss Erik ten Hag claimed that Garnacho had not been performing well enough and was expecting more from the forward. He said: “You have seen at the start of the season we played him and then his contribution was not good enough.
“But he also had some good actions. You see always he is a threat in the game even when he is not playing that well. He has to learn when he does his job in defending he will always have his moment and he will always be decisive because he has great qualities.
“As well, it’s not only off the ball. But I want to see like today, he is entering the box in the right spot to finish. But I think it is quite normal for a player of his age that there is space for a lot of improvement.
“Everyone likes him, the fans like him, the team likes him, I like him but we also have to demand from him and push him because he can act on a very high level but he has to show it every day.”