Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag weighs in on Alejandro Garnacho row after controversial Andre Onana post

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has weighed in after Alejandro Garnacho sparked a backlash online

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Jack Otway

By Jack Otway


Published: 27/10/2023

- 13:36

Updated: 27/10/2023

- 14:19

The Red Devils are due to lock horns with Manchester City on Sunday

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has weighed into the controversy surrounding Alejandro Garnacho.

The 19-year-old sparked a backlash on Thursday by sharing a snap of himself, Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay mobbing goalkeeper Andre Onana.


Garnacho accompanied his post with two gorilla emojis, with Onana insisting no offence was meant.

And Ten Hag has now provided his verdict on the actions of the teenager ahead of Sunday's crunch showdown with Manchester City.

Manchester United Alejandro Garnacho

Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho deleted his post on social media

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The FA are investigating Garnacho as a result of his message to Onana.

But Ten Hag thinks the post proves how united the club are having endured a troublesome start to the season so far.

"We are talking with the FA," he said.

"What you see, I can confirm that and I want to emphasise we are together, we are united, you saw that with the post of Andre."

Onana was the hero for United as they scraped their way to a narrow 1-0 win over Copenhagen on Tuesday night.

And Ten Hag feels the former Inter Milan star will come good following his arrival back in the summer.

"You give him the standards and also the expectations," he said.

"But also it’s about getting to the same level.

"He has high expectations from himself. We give him the confidence, look what you did in the past for great clubs in great leagues, you have the ability and the skills.

"The last two games were good progress, now we have to keep this going.

"It’s very good but at Manchester United good is not good enough."

The Red Devils have been unconvicing this season.

Though they've recently beat Copenhagen, Sheffield United and Brentford they remain a far cry from the swashbuckling sides of old.

For Ten Hag, however, winning is all that matters.

But the United boss does admit that displays must improve if the club are to enjoy a successful campaign.

"I said [we are heading] in the right direction, we have a way to go, I see positives and I see also negatives," he stated.

"Probably what Christian [Eriksen] is referring to, we are not consistently in position at the level we can be where we show in games we can be, like Arsenal away and the first 20 minutes at Bayern away.

"We should do this on a consistent basis, but pressing we’re quite good, we have the most ball regains from the whole Premier League, the most middle regains in the whole league, our defending and pressing organisation, that is us.

"But we don’t take benefit in the attacking transition moments, we have the ability in our teams to take benefits from it.

"This is how to grow and progress and the games will become more easy."

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Man Utd Andre Onana

Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has been impressed by the improvement of Andre Onana

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On the match with City, he added: "I think it’s a match that is so huge because it’s Manchester, it’s internal, but it’s also about world football.

"All the eyes will be on this game globally."

He added: "In this moment they’re six points ahead, we’re six points back, we have to catch up.

"We know we have to progress the team, make developments.

"It has to do with the cooperation, the movement around it, we have to work on that."

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