“Garnacho was smarter than the other kids, but he became problematic”
ATLÉTICO MADRID
Jesús Adolfo Marcos, Garnacho’s coach at the Atlético Madrid youth academy, recounts what that young man from Getafe was like at that time and the potential he treasured.
- www.deciderflow.com
Alejandro Garnacho is one of the fashionable players in England. The Atlético de Madrid youth squad was the bet of Manchester United a few years ago and the Spanish-Argentinian player took the British club’s offer, where he already stands out in the first team.
From his beginnings as a ‘colchonero’, it was clear that he could go far. And that led Atlético to place Jesús Adolfo Marcos, who trained a higher-class team in the academy. "They wanted me to train the best young player at the club. That was my mission, and at the same time my biggest challenge," explains the coach in the English media.
Garnacho, who is now only 18 years old, saw how the club wanted to manage the potential he had while setting straight some aspects of his character. “Alejandro was a street boy, from a Getafe neighborhood, and we immediately decided to transfer him to the academy hotel, because he was not a good student. He was smarter than the rest of the kids, but he became troublesome…he was a rascal and he created trouble inside the hotel”, Marcos recalls.
“He would sneak food into the room, candy and stuff, and hide his phone from us and be on it until late at night. He was also the first of his group to break the rules,” he adds.
Marcos remembers his debut coaching Garnacho's team, in which he replaced him at halftime. Atlético ended up winning 6-0. "The entire coaching staff expected a negative reaction, complaints or indiscipline, but it was the opposite. Alejandro reacted with incredible maturity, he didn't complain and he worked very hard all week. He's an intelligent boy who knew he was wrong and had no reason to be angry. He has that thing that characterizes special players: they can be rebellious."
Knowing his potential, the coach wanted to make it difficult for him in practice so that he could improve even more. "Carlos Ballesteros was a good player and he pushed it to the limit with some pretty aggressive tackles, but Alejandro drove him crazy. He was one of those players that can win a game for you”.
