Erik ten Hag deflected comments about his resemblance to Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, two greats from Manchester United, and Alejandro Garnacho.
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There were certain to be similarities between the 19-year-old’s goal and Ronaldo’s acrobatic shot in Real Madrid’s 2018 Champions League quarterfinal victory over Juventus and Wayne Rooney’s game-winning goal in the February 2011 Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
During their time as United teammates, Ronaldo served as a mentor to Garnacho, and the Argentine even mimicked Ronaldo’s celebration at Goodison.
The comparison to Ronaldo and Rooney prompted a lengthy and scathing response from Ten Hag, who is referring to a teenager who will not turn 20 until July.
“I don’t think it’s right to compare,” Ten Hag said. All of them are unique individuals. Garnacho needs to put in a lot of time and effort consistently if he wants to continue in that direction. He may not have accomplished anything remarkable thus far, but he certainly possesses great potential.
You need to score twenty-five goals in the Premier League if you aspire to be a player like Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney, yet we see glimpses of this all the time.
You have to put in a lot of time and effort and sometimes even damage yourself to acquire it. Still a long way to go, but he shows promise.
A great goal was scored. There are a lot of games left in the season, but we may have already reached our objective. Not just the end, but the beginning of the end as well. Amazing, though, was the finish.
United hadn’t won a Premier League away game by more than two goals since October 2021, and their triumph at Goodison Park was their first league win by three goals this season.
United put on a clinical display, with all three of their forwards finding the back of the net, but they only managed four shots on goal.
As Evertonians demonstrated against their 10-point deduction by the Premier League and Ten Hag insisted that United’s strategy included a quick start, the timing of Garnacho’s goal at Goodison subdued the sulfurous throng.
“It was an excellent performance today,” Ten Hag remarked. Our start was excellent; everything went according to plan, and we scored a fantastic goal. The way we draw them in, the way we quicken our pace, the change of possession from Victor (Lindelof) to Marcus Rashford, the overlap, the cross—all of it was superb. The finish, in particular, was outstanding.
We were too relaxed and comfortable in the first half, which made me unhappy; Everton had fantastic opportunities of their own. However, we came out firing in the second half, and we scored two excellent goals.
Although it was easy to plan, getting there was a whole other ballgame. Well done to the squad; the players were calm and assured throughout, which helped them draw the opponent and increase their speed.