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Man United: James Garner rightly catches eyes of many on loan at Nottm Forest, stats back it up
By Mark Murphy
Manchester United loaned out James Garner to Nottingham Forest in January 2021. In the summer the loan was extended for a full season, per Manchester Evening News.
In this full season for Forest, he’s been one of the shining young stars, as well as Brennan Johnson. He caught the eyes of many in a recent outing against Liverpool in the FA Cup where they lost 1-0.
However, followers of the Championship will have been aware of what Garner is capable of. Being a source of creativity for Forest as they look to close in on the Play-Offs.
The stats show Garner is an all-round midfielder
When he first broke through, Garner was actually a defender. But now he’s playing further up field in a midfield role.
He’s clearly taken what he’s learned previously in defence to benefit him. But he’s developed his game further since moving into midfield.
This is probably why he’s able to offer a lot for Forest in the middle of the park. He averages just under 2 tackles a game and over 1 interception a game.
From a passing perspective, he offers just below two key passes every game and an 80.4% successful pass rate.
You would think that Garner would only offer doing the dirty work, but you’d assume wrong. He also offers a lot going forward. He has three goals and four assists to his name this season (stats via WhoScored,com).
So really, he has the traits you’d want in a midfielder, he dictates the game in midfield. At such a young age, Manchester United fans will like what they see so far.
Considering their lack of quality at times in central midfield, some fans will hope Garner will be a one for the near future. Especially from a defensive perspective, the Red Devils are certainly lacking a proper defensive midfielder.
In other Manchester United news, this United starlet has earned a well-deserved senior international call-up.