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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag said Alejandro Garnacho should not be compared with Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo after his superb strike in Sunday’s 3-0 win at Everton. Teenager Garnacho silenced a fired-up Goodison Park after just three minutes with an overhead finish that will be a contender for goal of the season. Former United stars Rooney and Ronaldo both struck similar goals during their stellar careers, but Ten Hag insisted it was too soon to bracket the 19-year-old Garnacho in such vaunted company. Ten Hag, who saw his side seal maximum Premier League points with second-half efforts from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, said: “Don’t compare, I don’t think it is right. “They all have their own identity, but for Garnacho to go that way he has a lot to come, he has to work very hard. “You have to do it on a consistent basis and so far he has not, but he definitely has high potential to do some amazing things. “It’s not the first time we saw this, we have already often seen glimpses, but if you want to be a player like Rooney or Ronaldo you have to score 20-25 goals in the Premier League each season. “That’s not easy to get, you have to work hard, you have to go in areas where it hurts. So there’s a lot to come. But potential, he has.” Ten Hag, whose side made it five wins from six top-flight matches to close the gap at the top of the table to six points, felt Garnacho’s opening goal was extra special because of United’s build-up. The former Ajax manager added: “It was fantastic goal and this season there’s still many games to play, but probably already maybe the goal of the season. “But not only the finish, it was the total from the back to the end, but of course the finish is incredible.” Goodison Park was a cauldron before kick-off as Everton fans launched their protest at a 10-point Premier League deduction, with marches prior to the game and most fans in the stadium waving mini purple ‘Corrupt’ placards. Everton responded well to Garnacho’s opener, creating several clear-cut chances before being punished after the interval for not taking their chances. Manager Sean Dyche said it was difficult to criticise his players after his side slipped five points from safety in their first game since being handed the punishment for breaching the league’s profitability and sustainability rules. Dyche said: “It’s a tough one to call, for a large part we were very good, particularly the first half. “They get off to a worldie, a lifetime goal and got the better of the first 15 minutes, but then we regrouped well. “They ended up kicking it long. We created chances but couldn’t end up scoring a goal and it hurts you in the end.” Rashford converted United’s second from the penalty spot after a VAR intervention before Martial’s neat late finish, while Everton struck the woodwork through Vitaliy Mykolenko’s second-half shot. Dyche added: “It is very difficult when the second and third go in. We hit the bar, the biggest thing for me is the chance count, incredibly high again. “But we have to be clinical. I think a lot of the performance was right, the fans were terrific. “They were having their own say and that connection with the fans is going to be important.” Read More Players and fans evacuated from York Barbican as fire disrupts UK Championship Luca Brecel makes winning start in York after spending spree renews title hunger Ange Postecoglou says ‘we’ll get through it’ after Tottenham are beaten again Archer, Brook and Rashid join list of England players who will not play in IPL Ollie Watkins hails a ‘massive three points’ for Aston Villa at Tottenham Former England boss Terry Venables remembered as an innovator and inspiration

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HANOI, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 7, 2023--

Artificial Intelligence can help talented players who might never normally be noticed get a chance in the professional game. Premier League clubs Chelsea and Burnley – as well as a host of MLS teams – are using an app, created by ai.io, that allows footballers around the world to complete specifically-designed drills and upload match footage of themselves. Using computer vision and deep-learning machinery, which can recognise and evaluate a player’s movement, each user receives a score and then scouts are alerted to anyone that matches set criteria. The aiSCOUT platform is the only digital scouting product invited into the FIFA Innovation Programme and already has several success stories, with Burnley signing Jez Davies and Chelsea handing a 10-week trial to Ben Greenwood, having discovered them on the app. Not every budding footballer will be visited by a scout, but almost everyone will have access to a smartphone and that provides the player with a unique opportunity. “It gives the power to the player,” ai.io COO and director of sports science Richard Felton-Thomas told the PA news agency. “You are always waiting for a scout to come and watch you, you can’t just ring them up and ask them to come. “This just puts power into the players’ hands. “We are really democratising that scouting process. Normally you go and watch and then go and collect more information afterwards, which is just inefficient. “You can’t replace the fundamentals a scout brings of going to a game, seeing how a player deals with adversity, how they transfer those raw skill sets to a match and taking instructions from a coach. “Our tech is there to do the early talent detection but then scouts have to ID that talent with the traditional method. “We give them the efficiency of enough information to say, ‘Don’t wait until the weekend to watch them’, because someone else might be doing that already. “We don’t make the future decision of the player. The scout and the recruitment do that. I don’t think anyone wants AI to decide their fate. We are there to say on certain metrics, players are worth a look.” Davies joined the Clarets when he was spotted on the aiSCOUT app shortly after being released by Tottenham and they quickly signed him up. This just puts power into the players' hands ai.io COO Richard Felton-Thomas Greenwood had a 10-week trial at Chelsea before earning a permanent deal at Bournemouth, going on to feature in the Carabao Cup and represent Republic of Ireland at under-19 level. There has also been huge success in India as players using a shared community phone have been scouted. “We have had players trial and sign for Chelsea and Burnley and in India players who have downloaded our app from a shared community phone are now in football programmes,” Felton-Thomas added. “If it wasn’t for a mobile phone they would never have the exposure. They were not playing registered football so a scout would never have found them but we are changing those lives through those opportunities with a phone. “Jez Davies signed at Burnley. He was released at Tottenham. We didn’t know about him but he entered our app uploaded his reels and you can imagine being 18 and just coming out of Tottenham, his drills were incredible. Burnley saw that and within two weeks he was signed. “The first player we trialled was a player called Ben Greenwood. He had brilliant stats, he was at a football college and had never been scouted by any team, he lived two miles away from Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham and they thought if he was that good, how come our scouts had missed him. “They brought him in for a day, just to validate our data, but he ended up staying for 10 weeks. He scored on his under-19s debut but he didn’t get a contract. “He was signed by Bournemouth and is on his second contract and played in the Carabao Cup for them. This is a player who had never once been scouted, so that was a huge success story.” Read More Josh Magennis determined to keep giving his all for Northern Ireland Andy Farrell feels Ireland are becoming better at handling pressure Charlie Savage impresses Rob Page during his Wales debut Harry Maguire supported by ‘role model’ David Beckham after Hampden experience I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme