Alvaro Fernandez and Granada fell to a 3-1 defeat against Alaves in the Basque country yesterday. However, the young Spanish defender put in another solid display until he was subbed off in the 62nd minute.
Interestingly the 20 year old was deployed as a left winger, rather than a left back. Followers of United’s academy will know that the Galician excels going forward but it will still be seen as a curious decision to play a defender by trade so far up the pitch.
The match itself was disappointing for Granada as they slipped to another defeat which sees them fall to 19th in the league and flirting heavily with relegation. The Andalusian outfit have only one win from 14 La Liga games and have collected a meagre seven points.
Despite this, United’s young loanee continues to put in good performances and is picking up invaluable experience in one of the toughest competitions in world football.
Sofascore gave the defender a 6.5 rating for his 62 minutes of work on Friday night. The former Madrid player had another accurate night when it came to his passing statistics.
The youngster recently impressed on international duty in this field and he continued his pinpoint passing completing 17 from 21 with an accuracy rate of 81%.
The player was able to show off his impressive passing with a completed long ball during the game. Again, this is even more praiseworthy when you consider he was playing in an unfamiliar advanced role.
The Spanish under-21 international had one shot off target and tossed in two crosses but neither met their intended target. The United player was also able to complete one of his two dribble attempts. Unfortunately, Fernandez was not much of a goal threat has he had a 0.03xG stat for goals and a 0.02xA for assists. This probably can’t be held against a 20 year old defender playing as a winger however.
Resulting from his positional rearrangement, the young defender did not carry out as much defensive work as usual. He was successful in two out of his three ground duals and his one aerial duel according to Sofascore. However, the man from Ferrol did not have any blocks, interceptions or tackles in the entire time he was on the pitch.
Truth be told, despite Granada having the lion’s share of possession and more shots, the Basque side ripped them to shreds on the counter in the first hour. Man United fans will be pleased to learn that the young Spanish left back was not really at fault for any of the goals.
The United academy player did miss a tackle in the build up to the first goal, but this was well inside Alaves’ half, and there was ample time to stop the Basque’s rapid counter.
What will matter most to Fernandez however is gametime. The defender has already represented Granada ten times this term and will aim to build on this heavy involvement over the course of the season.
Fernandez’s rojiblancos have to pick themselves up after a 1536km round trip from the south of Spain to the northern coast and back again.
Next up is the small matter of Real Madrid. When los Blancos come to town, the world is usually watching. Alvaro Fernandez will be hoping he can put on a show and catch Erik ten Hag’s eye with an impressive display, be it at full back or winger.