The Embarrassment Alejandro Garnacho Exposes About Manchester United.

As torrential rain battered the Old Trafford field, Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim was forced into another difficult call.

Patrick Dorgu had been red-carded for a tackle on Ipswich Town’s Omari Hutchinson and the Portuguese manager had to decide who to hook as he rejigged his starting lineup.

Before the half-time whistle, Alejandro Garnacho was withdrawn in an effort to cope with being one player down.

However, It’s fair to say that the Argentine winger was not very pleased with the call.

Rather than joining his teammates on the touchline, Garnacho made the long walk to the corner of the field where the dressing rooms at Old Trafford are, appearing to signal to the bench as he changed his sodden shirt.

When asked afterward about the spectacle, which appeared petulant even if there were ample grounds for him to switch his jersey, Amorim tried to straight-bat it and then strangely brought up the departed Marcus Rashford.

“It was cold and wet, maybe?” the coach said of the walk down the tunnel.

“You are making a connection with Rashford, right? I know, I know. What I’m saying is I’m going to obviously talk with Garnacho about that. So I will talk about that if you want in the next press conference.”

For old school ‘proper football men’ seeing such insolence on the field is simply unacceptable and when he was asked about the incident on talkSPORT ex-Liverpool striker Dean Saunders didn’t hold back.

“He’s walking on thin ice, Garnacho, he is,” he told the broadcaster.

“If you look at the league table, there’s not a player at Man United who can complain to the manager for not playing or getting brought off; look where they are in the league.

“And if he’s, from what I’ve heard, he’s arguing with the manager, he’s arguing with the tactics and he’s throwing his toys out the pram when he gets brought off.

“He’s going to ruin his career if he carries on.”

Referring to his time as a head coach, Saunders laid out his method for dealing with this insubordination.

“I used to say to the group, ‘Listen, your job is to go out and do your job in your role, whether it’s a striker, getting goals, making goals,” he continued.

“My job is to pick the right team, give you some tactics with and without the ball, and then the only way I can affect the game is by making substitutions in the last half an hour.

“So if I bring you off, don’t take it personal, and don’t… There’s people stood behind me, directors and owners of the club.

“When you’re shaking your head walking off, how do you think I look standing in the technical area?

‘Come and see me Monday morning, knock on my door, and I’ll explain to you why I took you off. Don’t show it out there in front of everyone.”

When a player publicly displays their frustrations, as Garnacho did, it doesn’t just call into question the relationship with the manager.

You start to wonder about the respect between the staff, fans, and even the club itself.

And what was remarkable about the Garnacho strop was that it wasn’t even the first time it had happened at Manchester United this season.

Joshua Zirkzee was removed in December with barely half an hour on the clock, and the Red Devils were struggling against Newcastle United.

It was a distasteful moment with the young Dutchman barracked by supporters and visibly upset as he made his way down the tunnel.

Postgame, Amorim was much more conciliatory in his comments than with Garnacho.

“It was really tough for me to do that [take him off], but I’ve spoken to Josh as it was important to express the message. For the team, it was important for Josh to go out,” he said at the time.

“I know that Josh is a really good guy. When he went to the tunnel, I can understand that some guys can be in a bad way but he is a really good lad. It is life, and we will support Josh and continue. Newcastle were better than Manchester United, they weren’t better than Josh.”

While both incidents had different contexts, the overriding sense is that players are isolated.

A cohesive squad that is behind the manager sees their teammates as the safe space to escape the boos or the frustration of being replaced, not the tunnel.

That is the place you go when you are burning with shame because you’ve let them down with a sending-off or have suffered an injury that has knocked you emotionally.

Garnacho’s strop indicates that at Old Trafford, the basic bonds needed for a team to move forward are lacking.

According to some newspaper reports, the connection between coach and players isn’t as strong as it should be.

“If you went into Carrington, you would think the players and Amorim are getting on great. But the truth is the players are frustrated for being blamed for the financial problems of the club,” a source told The Sun about the swathe of job cuts made at Old Trafford.

“However, they haven’t challenged the manager as they haven’t yet formed a bond with him. He is clear in what he wants from them on the pitch, and they are trying to implement it. But while some of them are fully behind his tactics, they feel that they cannot speak up as Amorim is steadfast in what he wants.

“They are doing what they are told, whether they think it’s right or not…the players feel like they can’t show any displeasure or it will become a problem.”

If that’s the case, it should serve as an even bigger warning that Garnacho would choose to show displeasure in front of thousands of people.