While Manchester United’s season is turning into yet another false dawn, the same can be said of a player in Facundo Pellistri who left Old Trafford during the summer transfer window.
An impressive performance against Man City in the Community Shield and an opening day with against Fulham – coupled of a volley of exciting new signings – had the Manchester United faithful believing that Erik ten Hag’s third season at the helm would be a lot happier than a largely miserable second.
Even a last-gasp defeat by Brighton, a game in which Man United performed impressively for large spells and were denied a winner by the tightest of offside calls, did little to dispel the new-found feeling of positivity.
But, six weeks on from that Joao Pedro decider, a season which promised much is now threatening to deliver very little.
And, on the subject of ‘false dawns’, the excitement surrounding Facundo Pellistri’s flying start to life at Panathinaikos is being similarly eroded with some below-par displays of his own.
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Facundo Pellistri facing criticism after Manchester United exit
Pellistri sprang out of the blocks in his new green attire.
Uruguay ace Pellistri scored in third Panathinaikos appearance after leaving Man United, and what an important goal it was. The opener in a 2-0 win over RC Lens that secured a place in the Europa Conference League proper.
Speaking to Proto Thema at the end of August, Pellistri could hardly have been happier.
The former Manchester United reserve was in ‘paradise’ over in Greece, he said, loving life in front of a vociferous fanbase and the ‘magical’ atmosphere of a rocking Votanikos Stadium.
But, like at his old employers, that early promise is fading fast.
As Erik ten Hag hangs onto his job at the Red Devils, questions are starting to be raised over Diego Alonso at Panathinaikos too. Alonso was integral to Pellistri’s arrival in Greece, having also worked with the winger for the Uruguay national team.
But after six winless games, his future is now in doubt.
And it goes without saying that the departure of a manager who knows and trusts Pellistri – and the arrival of a replacement with whom he would have to build a new relationship from the ground up – is hardly be the start the former Penarol starlet would have been hoping for.
Pellistri’s Panathinaikos manager Diego Alonso is under fire
Pellistri has no goals and only one assist in six Greek Super League games. His last two appearances, meanwhile, have come from the bench. Even Alonso, such a big fan of the £5 million summer signing, appears to have lost some faith.
“A mediocre night – a second in a row – for Pellistri,” Greek publication SportDog wrote after he was subbed off on the hour during a 1-1 draw with FK Borac Banja Luka in Europe.
The irony is, of course, that Pellistri left Man United in favour of regular starts in Panathinaikos. At least, that was the idea.
Now, just two months later, he appears to have slipped to third-choice on Alonso’s pecking order.
“Panathinaikos played with a team inferior in everything,” Greek legend Kostas Katsouranis said after that Conference League stalemate against the Bosnians. “When Banja Luka pressed high, they passed the ball easily.
“Pellistri wasn’t good in another game.”
While the sense is that Ten Hag will be given time to turn things around, Pellistri and Alonso are also under pressure to prove their worth at another underachieving club expecting far better.
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