Alejandro Garnacho has received a conversation from Erik ten Hag following the incident where the Manchester United winger liked tweets criticizing his substitution during half-time at Bournemouth and implying that he was unfairly treated by the head coach.
Garnacho promptly unliked the two tweets, which the club sees as a sign of remorse, and any further steps will be determined internally.
During Saturday’s match, the Argentinian player was substituted while United was trailing 2-1; they eventually managed to secure a 2-2 draw thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ penalty in the second half.
Although Garnacho was responsible for the mistake leading to the first goal by Dominic Solanke and the second goal by Justin Kluivert came from United’s right side, he also contributed with an assist for Fernandes’ first goal before being replaced by Amad Diallo.
Two posts from the United YouTuber, Mark Goldbridge, who boasts over 800,000 followers, received likes from Garnacho’s account. In one post, Goldbridge mentioned that Ten Hag subtly shifted the blame to Garnacho during the post-match press conference, which was not well-received as it seemed like he was throwing a 19-year-old under the bus despite his contributions this season. The other tweet criticized the decision to take Garnacho off at half-time and highlight him as the issue, calling it a joke.
Garnacho had missed some training sessions due to illness the previous week but did participate in the training session before the match. When asked about the decision to substitute Garnacho, Ten Hag explained that they needed to address issues on the right side of the field and bring in fresh energy and quality. Despite Garnacho’s absence from training during the week, they believed he could bring cooperation and togetherness to the team’s play on the right-hand side.
Although Garnacho has been a key player under Ten Hag, starting in the last 30 matches, he has been substituted in the past four games. Despite this, he has managed to score nine goals and provide four assists this season for United, who currently hold the seventh position in the Premier League.