Roland Cutinho
Erik ten Hag provides his views on Man United midfielders James Garner and Hannibal Mejbri
Speaking in an interview with MUTV, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has spoken about his plans for starlets, James Garner and Hannibal Mejbri ahead of the upcoming season. Although both the youngsters have been available to play, they enjoyed different paths last season.
The Tunisian midfielder impressed last season after getting a chance to feature for the senior side. However, the English midfielder was loaned out to Nottingham Forest and he performed well in the Championship. He helped Forest gain promotion to the Premier League for the first time in over 23 years.
Hannibal was an unused substitute for our first two preseason games but came on to play against Crystal Palace. On the order side, Garner was unavailable so far this summer as he has been recovering from an injury.
Both the academy graduates would get a chance to mark an impression against Aston Villa as ten Hag strives to be ready on time for the first league match. Speaking in an interview with MUTV, the Dutch manager was asked about his plans for the two teenagers, for which he said:
“James Garner integrated into training this week, so I haven’t seen him. I don’t have a full impression of him and I want to see more. Hannibal, he plays some minutes now and I think he did quite well, in training as well. He makes quite a good impression. I will take my decisions. It’s clear some of them have potential.”
ten Hag also appreciated Hannibal’s hard work in training but is yet to assess Garner. However, he also warned that the players would need to play and contribute in order to make an impression.
A recent video of the Dutch manager ripping into Zidane Iqbal in training showed that he does not accept half measures. The players would need to put in their best performances or face getting benched.
Surprisingly, the manager hasn’t given Alejandro Granacho the chance to feature in any of the three preseason games. The Argentine youngster has potential but would have to put in more effort to get that spot in the next match.
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After all, the former Ajax manager needs to identify who he can rely on ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
