Ten Hag warns young winger to keep feet on ground during break

ERIK TEN HAG warned Alejandro Garnacho about the danger of losing focus during the World Cup break after the teenager’s latest heroics in the win over Fulham.

Ten Hag has been trying to keep Garnacho grounded in the midst of his breakthrough season for United, and wants to make sure he is still in the right shape physically and mentally when the season resumes next month. After the 18-year-old climbed off the bench to score his first Premier League goal at Craven Cottage, the United boss cautioned that he has to continue working hard while his team-mates are at the World Cup. Garnacho will train at Carrington and go on a training trip to Cadiz with the rest of the players who are not on duty in Qatar. ‘This shows what talent can do but it is still a long way to go,’ said Ten Hag (right). ‘He has to keep his feet on the ground. He has to do more investment. Big players know that, young players don’t. ‘Now it’s a four-week break, that is already a danger for him, because he now has momentum. ‘Let’s see how he is coming back. We have to manage that with him. His attitude is good and I’m certain he will have an impact. ‘The danger is four weeks, no games, lose focus, less investment. It is only when he stays on the same attitude that he is working the last three, four or five weeks the process will keep going and his progress will keep going. If not, it goes the other way.’ Ten Hag praised Garnacho’s impact in recent weeks and admitted he could never have foreseen his faith in the teenager paying off so handsomely. ‘Alejandro had a big impact in the win,’ added the Dutchman. ‘The spotlight is on that and that is justified because it was a great finish because that is what you expect from subs coming in.

‘I am really happy with his progress. We have an extra player in the squad and I’m happy for the academy. But also I want to emphasise the way we scored that goal all the way from the back to the front. I think it was a brilliant assist from Christian Eriksen. ‘We’re going in the right direction, and I think we have a base. The culture has changed. The attitude has changed and that’s good. We have also improved. We have got a better mentality and you saw that with the winner. ‘We are now united, we have togetherness. The dressing room, the staff, the directors, and the fans. I’m happy

with that development.’ For Fulham manager Marco Silva, though, Garnacho’s late winner was another setback coming just a week after Erling Haaland’s added-time goal condemned his side to defeat at Manchester City. ‘It was really cruel for us for the second game in a row against Manchester sides,’ said Silva. ‘Even though the first game was different, the way we performed we deserved more from the game. ‘We have to learn from the moment that in this type of situation we can never lose focus against these kind of sides because they will punish you.

‘We were always the team that controlled the game. We did OK in the first half and the second half was really good.

‘We equalised and were the team looking to do something more, and the late goal punished us.’