Alejandro Garnacho named in the matchday squad for Manchester United vs Norwich City as Ralf Rangnick rates debut chances

Ralf Rangnick has given his thoughts on whether Alejandro Garnacho can make his debut for the senior team as Manchester United take on Norwich City later today. The Premier League fixture will take place at Old Trafford, where his side would look to move past the disappointment against Everton last matchday.

Garnacho has been named in the matchday squad for the match against Norwich. He is one of the highly-rated prospects in the youth academy, having joined Man United after leaving Atletico Madrid back in 2020. He had recently trained with the first team for the first time and was also a part of Argentina’s senior squad last month.

However, Rangnick has dampened the supporters’ hope of seeing the 17-year-old play by issuing his verdict on the matter. Speaking in the pre-match presser (h/t Manchester Evening News), the interim boss has conveyed that the match is not a friendly where the Red Devils can afford to play one of the youngsters to their liking.

“I think it’s good for Hannibal or Alejandro to train with us for the last couple of days and weeks but we’re not playing friendly games or any games where we think to give a young player the opportunity to play. It’s not about that, it’s about playing the best possible formation and line-up with which we think we can still win the game.”

Lower our expectations!

It is understandable why the fans are desperate to see their talented prospects like the Argentine play for the first team. That is especially the case with the young star, as the forward has scored 12 goals and assisted six times from thirty matches in the youth set-up this term across all competitions.

However, the German boss would probably not want to give too much exposure to the teenager as he is still learning the trade. Phil Foden’s case is an excellent example as Pep Guardiola often got slated for not playing him too often, but it is Guardiola’s man-management that helped the Englishman to prosper in recent years.

We do not want the Garnacho to be subjected to any high-pressure situation, which is what Rangnick is probably thinking as well. As such, it is unlikely that we may not see the academy star make his debut unless we get the game done and dusted as early as possible.

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The Spanish-born attacker only started training with the senior team recently, so we as supporters should be responsible and manage our expectations better. We do not want to put too much exposure on our talents so that they would be affected by the increased pressure.

While Rangnick’s words indicate that Garnacho may not play a part later today, things could be different if the scoreline heavily favours us towards the end of the game. As such, let’s wait and see whether the starlet will make his senior debut or not today.