At Old Trafford on Friday, the focus of the 2,000 fans was not on The Manchester United first team but on the under-23 youth team, especially argentina international Alejandro Ganacho in the number 11 shirt. He did not disappoint the fans, scoring the winning goal to help the team beat Chelsea 1-0.
In the youth team match, the fans sat in the stands of The Forjo, while Ganganjo, who played as a left winger, played in front of them in the second half. The 17-year-old may have been one of the highlights of United's miserable season, and although he has yet to make it to the first-team squad, he is perhaps the most popular and efficient player in The Theatre of Dreams. The data shows that in the 6 games played on this stadium, he scored 6 goals and assisted 3 times.
Against Chelsea, each sprint by Ganajo will trigger cheers from fans, indicating what people expect from him. A year ago, only fans who followed the academy knew about the "new C Ronaldo" from Atletico and knew that he admired Ronaldo. But this season, Manchester United's under-18 youth team reached the youth FA Cup final, and Ganganjo's performance attracted more fans. In the Game of Old Trafford against Everton, he scored a goal on the pitch, a video that circulated widely on social networking sites.
In March, Ganacho not only renewed his contract with Manchester United until 2025, but also was selected for the Argentine team to train with Messi; now, he is also training in the First Team of Manchester United, practicing with Cristiano Ronaldo. But the Manchester Evening News reported that with Mason Greenwood's lessons, United wanted to protect the 17-year-old boy from the spotlight and keep him down to earth.
So, despite Ghana joe's first-team training and interim manager Ronnick's lack of strikers, United did not put him in the first-team squad. Ghana Joe is now coach Neil Wood's under-23 youth team, playing in the Premier League 2 divisions.
Ganacjo recently signed a sponsorship deal with Nike and looks to be gaining traction, but Manchester United want him to keep a low profile. Because there have been too many negative examples in the past, Makaida, Ravel Morrison, Januzay, Rashford and Greenwood.
"It's the work that all the coaches try to do, including the coaches and the staff off the pitch, and we try to keep the boys down to earth, and they do get a lot of attention at a very young age, and you can see that on social media," Coach Wood told the Manchester Evening News, "It's part of the challenge and we want them to stay humble and hungry and put their heads in the hard work." It takes collective effort, you can't make young people lose their minds, and if they do, you have to remind them where the bottom line is. Players have to maintain good discipline, they need to know the rules, and once violated, like other players, there is a price to be paid. Manchester United are a big club and they have to be disciplined on the pitch, even off the pitch."
Ganacjo will compete in the UNDER-18 FA Cup at the end of the month, trying to help United win the title for the first time in 11 years. The last time they won the title, there were pogba, Jesse Lingard and Morrison. And the future of Manchester United's new Cristiano Ronaldo definitely belongs to the under-23 youth team, or even the first team. Coach Wood said: "He has been doing well and he has done well in the FA Youth Cup. Competing at the under-23 level is already challenging for him. He played great against Chelsea on Friday, but he will face more physically better, faster and stronger opponents, which is a test for him, and he will not play under 18 games forever. He has had some wonderful experiences lately, training with a team for a few days, being selected for Argentina and making his under-20 youth team debut."
"When he runs towards an opponent with the ball, he's the most threatening, he's the kind of player who gets the audience excited. He's good at dribbling and challenging defenders, but he still has a lot to improve and develop. I think you can see on Friday that he has to get better on the last pass, shoot right into the goal, or pass a threatening ball to complete the assist. He had to do it, but it wasn't always on Fridays."
Selected for Argentina, awarded a sponsorship contract from Nike and appeared in the Champions League box between Chelsea and Real Madrid, but Coach Wood insisted that the experiences did not change The nature of Gananojo. "He just continued to work hard, training with us and training with the first team for a few days. If you play at Manchester United and play well, you have a chance to succeed. But the most important thing is to get game time, a big game like last Friday's against Chelsea at Old Trafford, it's a good test for him and it's important to see where his level is."