Rio Ferdinand has passionately defended one Manchester United star after he came under huge criticism and was accused of having ‘the decision-making of a cat’.
The entire United squad has come under-fire this season following their terrible start to the season that has left the club 12th in the Premier League.
The scrutiny will be even more intense now following the arrival of new head coach Ruben Amorim who has a lot of work to do as evidenced by his debut match against Ipswich Town.
His side were very much second-best at Portman Road on Sunday but still managed to eke out a 1-1 draw, thanks largely to Andre Onana’s heroics.
Amad Diallo shone brightly as a wingback, but the same could not be said for fellow young attacker Alejandro Garnacho who had a rather quiet match.
Garnacho is United’s top scorer this season with seven goals in 19 appearances, but there are concerns that the winger may not fit into Amorim’s system that sees two attacking midfielders play behind a centre-forward.
Discussing the Red Devils’ forward options on Rio Ferdinand Presents, United fan Stephen Howson was scathing of the Argentinian, saying: ‘Garnacho has the decision-making of a cat. It’s awful.’
He went onto add that he would drop the 20-year-old from the starting XI and pick a front-three of Amad, Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund.
A disbelieving Ferdinand, interrupted several times to defend the young forward, exclaiming: ‘Don’t talk about Garnacho like that. You can’t be perfect, he’s a kid man!
‘[Without Garnacho] no one’s running back, no one’s running in behind the opposition. I’d play Garnacho on the left.
‘This is a process we can’t expect them to look like the Sporting team now. It’s impossible, you can’t expect that to be the case.’
Despite his goals and assists, Garnacho has come under-fire a lot recently, notably being confronted and heckled by a supporter outside Old Trafford ahead of a Europa League match.
He later didn’t celebrate scoring a stunner against Leicester, with Fernandes explaining that the young star felt down after the incident, but that only provoked more criticism.
United legend Roy Keane and ex-striker Troy Deeney were unimpressed, with the latter saying: ”One, it says what players are like nowadays, where their skin is so thin that one gentleman can say what he wants to say and everyone sulks.
‘And secondly, if he’s getting affected by that, I would say to him, just as an older pro: “I don’t think this football game is for you, big man”.’
Garnacho will have the chance to silence his doubters when United take on Bodø/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday.
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