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Rob Dawson, Correspondent
Alejandro Garnacho has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, according to Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, after drawing Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo comparisons for his wonder goal in a 3-0 win over Everton on Sunday.
Garnacho, 19, scored a spectacular overhead kick in the third minute at Goodison Park with a strike similar to Rooney’s against Manchester City in 2011. Ronaldo also scored an acrobatic bicycle kick for Real Madrid against Juventus in 2018, but Ten Hag said that despite Garnarcho’s bright future, he has work to do before he’s considered on a par with two of the game’s greats.
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“Don’t compare, I don’t think it is right,” said Ten Hag. “They all have their own identity, but for Garnacho to go that way he has a lot to come, he has to work very hard. You have to do it on a consistent basis and so far he has not.
“But he definitely has high potential to do some amazing things, it’s not the first time we saw this. We have already often seen glimpses, but if you want to be a player like Rooney or Ronaldo you have to score 20, 25 goals in the Premier League each season. That’s not easy to get, you have to work hard, you have to go in areas where it hurts. So a lot to come. But potential, he has it.”
Everton manager Sean Dyche called Garnacho’s strike “a goal of a lifetime” while Ten Hag said it was already the goal of the season.
“It was a fantastic goal,” said Ten Hag. “In the season, there are still many games to play, but maybe already it is the goal of the season. Not only the finish, it was the back to the end but the finish was incredible.”
The result was United’s biggest Premier League win of the season and lifts Ten Hag’s team up to sixth in the table ahead of two more tough away games against Galatasaray in the Champions League and Newcastle United to come this week.
“It was a good performance today,” said Ten Hag. “The start was very good, exactly how we planned it, we scored a great goal, not only the finish. But then in the first half we were too passive, we were too easy going, too comfortable.
“I was not pleased with that part of the game and Everton created some chances, but in the second half we were proactive and it was a very good performance and we scored two good goals.”
For his part, Garnacho looked astonished that he had pulled off the effort, which was slightly further away from goal than Rooney’s.
“I can’t believe it,” Garnacho said. “To be honest, I just turned around and thought, ‘Oh my God.'”