Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca, has clarified why summer signing,.Alejandro Garnacho, was left on the bench during Saturday’s Premier League clash against his former club, Manchester United, at Old Trafford.
The Argentine winger, who was an unused substitute, endured jeers from United fans but never got the chance to face his old teammates as the Blues slipped to a 2-1 defeat.
Chelsea’s hopes were dented early when goalkeeper Robert Sanchez received a fourth-minute red card for bringing down Bryan Mbeumo. United also finished with 10 men after Casemiro was dismissed following a second yellow card.
Explaining his decision after the match, Maresca said Garnacho had been set to come on until defender Wesley Fofana’s condition forced a change of plans.
“Garna, he was ready to go on,” Maresca told si.com. “But then Wes asked for the change, because he was tired after a long time, so we changed and we decided to go for Tyrique, and the idea was to give Garnacho minutes.
“He was ready, and he was ready to go on, and then Wes asked for a change.”
The Italian coach dismissed any suggestion that Garnacho was kept off the pitch due to the hostile reception from home fans.
Maresca also addressed his early substitutions of Cole Palmer, Estêvão, and Pedro Neto, explaining that the red card forced him to reshape his team.
“We needed to defend with five players, we can defend with four when we are 11v11,” he told Sky Sports. “We decided to change Estevao and Pedro Neto and then after we changed Cole (Palmer) because he made an effort to play the game because he was not 100 per cent fit. He had a test this morning and he was ok but not 100 per cent fit so also we changed him after 20 minutes.”
Garnacho, who is still waiting for his first Chelsea start, will now be looking to feature when the Blues take on Lincoln City in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup third-round tie.
