Despite coming away with a comfortable win on Tuesday night, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has issued a firm warning to one of his stars.
Although winger Alejandro Garnacho grabbed a goal and put in a good showing in the Manchester side's 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, the Red Devils' manager has insisted that the 19-year-old must do more for the team.
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Speaking after the game, Ten Hag praised the young star's performance, but also admitted to wanting to see him reach high levels on a more regular basis.
"You have seen at the start of the season, we played him and then his contribution was not good enough," Ten Hag said after the match, as per the Daily Mirror.
"But he also had some good actions. You see always he is a threat in the game even when he is not playing that well.
"He has to learn when he does his job in defending he will always have his moment and he will always be decisive because he has great qualities. As well, it's not only off the ball.
"But I want to see like today, he is entering the box in the right spot to finish. But I think it is quite normal for a player of his age that there is space for a lot of improvement.
"Everyone likes him, the fans like him, the team likes him, I like him, but we also have to demand from him and push him because he can act on a very high level but he has to show it every day."
United cruised to the next round of the tournament courtesy of goals from the Argentine winger, Casemiro and Anthony Martial, but the Dutch tactician believes his side still has plenty of work to do.
"We know that we are not now in the position where we want to be, yeah. So we have to build up, we have to catch up," Ten Hag added.
"Then you have to go from game to game, working on the process and working on the results. We don't think too far ahead, the next game is the most important, always."
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With the return of key players such as Mason Mount, Raphael Varane and newly-signed Sofyan Amrabat from injuries, the Red Devils will be hoping to turn their fortunes around following a poor start to the season, with their next test being against Palace, this time in a Premier League encounter on Saturday.
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