Erik ten Hag told Alejandro Garnacho that his previous performances this season were “not good enough” after Garnacho scored in Manchester United’s win over Crystal Palace in the League Cup on Tuesday.

After beating Burnley 1-0 on Saturday in the Premier League, United beat Palace 3-0 in the third round at Old Trafford. This took some of the pressure off of Ten Hag.

Garnacho put United ahead with a well-placed goal from a cross by Diogo Dalot in the first half. Casemiro and Anthony Martial then sealed the easy win.

The 19-year-old started United’s first two games of the season, but he hadn’t been in the starting lineup since a loss at Tottenham five weeks ago. Against Palace, he was back in the starting lineup for the first time since then.

“You have seen at the start of the season we played him and then his contribution was not good enough,” United boss Ten Hag said.

“He has to learn when he does his job in defending he will always have his moment and he will always be decisive because he has great qualities.

“As well, it’s not only off the ball. But I want to see like today, he is entering the box in the right spot to finish.

“Everyone likes him, the fans like him, the team likes him, I like him but we also have to demand from him and push him because he can act on a very high level. He has to show it every day.”

Ten Hag was more impressed by Sofyan Amrabat, who is from Morocco and made his first start for the club at left back. At halftime, he switched to his preferred position in the middle of the pitch.

Amrabat came to United on loan from the Italian team Fiorentina on the last day of the transfer window, and Ten Hag loves how versatile he is.

“Sofyan is a player, and that was one of the reasons we signed him, where the team needs him, he will play and he can play in more positions,” he said.

“Every player has his best position but he gives a certain dynamic in the game. We have seen today but also for him and many players, we just started.”

Ten Hag wouldn’t answer questions about Jadon Sancho after a report in Germany said that the United winger’s bad play was partly because he spent too much time playing X-Box games.

Sancho hasn’t been training with United’s first team because he upset Ten Hag when he said on social media that he was being used as a scapegoat because Ten Hag left him off the team when they played at Arsenal earlier this season.

“I don’t talk about personal issues and I don’t talk about players who are not available,” Ten Hag said before concluding his press conference.