Garnacho celebrates United's Youth Cup win

Alejandro Garnacho, who plays for Manchester United, predicted that he would score two goals in the FA Youth Cup final last season before going out on the pitch and delivering exactly that against Nottingham Forest in front of a record-breaking crowd at Old Trafford. Last season's match was played in front of a record-breaking crowd at Old Trafford.

In the previous season of the Youth Cup, the Under-18 team won it all thanks to Garnacho's contributions of seven goals and three assists. The youngster's performance in the competition earned him a spot on the first team, which is coached by Erik ten Hag, relatively recently.

This month, the 18-year-old scored against Real Sociedad in the Europa League and Fulham in the Premier League. His goal against Fulham, which he took particularly well and scored at Craven Cottage, was especially significant because it won United three points deep into stoppage time.

Justin Cochrane, who served as United's Head of Player Development for a year, was praised by Kelechi Garnacho for having a role in the latter's academy education when the former player moved on to Brentford in the summer, and Cochrane has now reflected on his time spent working with the young player. Garnacho thanked Cochrane for having a role in Garnacho's education.

Cochrane recalled the night that United's U18s played Nottingham Forest in the final of the Youth Cup, and he explained that Garnacho casually told him in the dressing room before kickoff that he would score two goals. This occurred on the night that United's U18s were competing against Nottingham Forest.

During an interview for the Training Ground Guru Podcast, Cochrane stated, "It's hard with these young players now." It's crazy to think that he gained two or three million followers in just one year [on Instagram, Garnacho currently has 3.2 million followers].

"He possesses the quality that allows him to thrive in the most important moments. He did it in the [final] of the Youth Cup the year before last. I believe I had a conversation with him before the game. It seemed to take him forever to get ready. Even though the other players were about to start warming up, he still hadn't put his boots on.

"I said, 'Alejandro, come on! Get ready, and don't be late. He said something to the effect of, "Don't worry, coach; I'll score two goals today." After that, he took the field and wound up scoring two goals. You find yourself laughing at silly little things like that.

"Travis Binnion, who is in charge of the Under-18 team, and I would talk about it and laugh about it often. You need to be able to work with talent as well as work with differences in order to be successful, and some of these highly talented players can sometimes drive you up the wall.

It's unrealistic to expect everyone to behave like a stellar young player. In addition, they are young players, ranging in age from 17 to 19, which means that they are not adults and do not always think like adults. They should not do that. They are going to be a little bit difficult, and they are going to be a little bit different. You simply need to develop an attitude of acceptance toward that fact.

"It is not about accepting that anything goes, but you do need to have an understanding that they are going to push the boundaries, and you do need to know when to pull them back in," the speaker said.