Alejandro Garnacho was given just four minutes of game time on the opening day of the Premier League season
Ex-Aston Villa midfielder Ray Houghton feels alarm bells should already be ringing for former Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho after getting just four minutes for his new club on the opening day of the season. Villa were thrashed 4-0 by Brighton with Fabian Hurzeler’s side four goals to the good after just 31 minutes.
It’s been yet another summer of upheaval for Garnacho, who left Chelsea after just one year at Stamford Bridge. The Argentinian forward scored eight times and notched four assists in 43 appearances for the Blues after joining from United.
However, he struggled for consistency and regular game time, with his behaviour off the pitch causing a stir during his time at Old Trafford. Garnacho has followed both Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in moving to Villa Park in an attempt to restart his career.
Things worked out for Rashford, who impressed under Emery before a loan spell with Barcelona, returning to the United fold this season. But the same can’t be said for Sancho who is still without a club after leaving United earlier this summer.
Now Garnacho finds his career at a similar crossroads, and Emery will be hoping he can get the best out of the United academy graduate.
“I’ve got every respect for the kid, but I think the alarm bells should be ringing,” Houghton told GOAL after the defeat to Brighton.”His closest people, his family and friends, should be telling him that.
“What they should be saying to him is: ‘Look where you’ve been, look what’s happened to you and look where you are now, there’s a reason this is happening, and it’s down to you now.
“‘This is another club that’s going to give you a chance. You’ve got to seize it. No more excuses. No more saying, oh well there’s something else at that club and someone else at that club.’
“That’s all gone now. It’s down to the individual now. It’s down to him as a player to seize it, grasp it and when he gets his chance make sure he’s ready to take it.
“Emery, he’s been brilliant at Villa. I love him. I think he’s a fantastic manager. I love his passion. I love his desire and if anyone’s going to get the best out of him, I think it would be him.
“I think he’ll give him some tough love but there’ll be an expectation and you’ve got to live up to that expectation and you’ve got to deliver. If you don’t deliver, he won’t hang about with you.
“He’s not that type of manager. He’s not there for sentimentality, he’s there because he wants people to be comfortable at the club, be given a chance and take it.
“Look what he’s done with [Youri] Tielemans. Tielemans had a great start at Villa, then he went off the boil for a bit. The manager obviously had a word with him and he turned it around.
“Absolutely outstanding last season and he decided to move on but the manager’s seen something in him and trusted him, believed in him and got him back on the path where he should have been.”
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