Jamie Redknapp has called out Alejandro Garnacho for his actions on his Chelsea debut. The Blues fought back from a goal down against Brentford to take a late lead, only to see all their hard work undone in the 93rd minute by a last-gasp equaliser from Fabio Carvalho.
Garnacho joined Chelsea from Manchester United in a £40 million transfer and had marked his first appearance in a Blues shirt by setting up Caicedo for a stunning late strike to register his first assist at his new club. But the positives were short-lived. While analysing the 2-2 draw for Sky Sports, Redknapp accused the Argentine of “falling asleep” as Chelsea slipped to their second draw of the season after just four Premier League outings.
The 21-year-old had been ostracised by Ruben Amorim, along with four others, during the Red Devils' pre-season. A move to London offered him a lifeline in his bid to prove he’s worth his weight in gold, but it hasn’t been the smoothest of starts as similar issues he faced at Old Trafford are already cropping up.
Garnacho Slammed For Losing His Marker Before Brentford Equaliser
Garnacho for Chelsea
Garnacho is very much a player who thrives when he can stay forward and focus solely on his attacking duties. But his reluctance to track back and support the defence has always been the biggest caveat to his otherwise promising performances. That was the case again on Saturday night, as Redknapp explained (watch the full segment below):
"What happens as it develops is this is the key battle. Garnacho has a job to do, he's got to mark Carvalho. That's your job. Simple as that. Don't lose him, you're now one of the defensive players in here. If he gets in behind you, it's on you.
"Everybody else is trying to win that first contact; it's not easy, Brentford have got some big guys. But Garnacho just falls asleep at the vital moment. Ball comes in, Garnacho's not concentrating, they get that contact and there [Carvalho] is at the back post."
When Enzo Maresca was questioned about whether he believed his team had done sufficient to secure victory, he responded to journalists, as per Manchester Evening News: "I think so, yeah. I think in the second half, we scored twice.
"We could have scored two or three more goals. Cole had a chance, Pedro [Neto] had a chance. So I think we did enough. Unfortunately, we lost two points just in the last two or three minutes."
Chelsea’s next match takes them to the Theatre of Dreams on September 20, where Garnacho will have the chance to show his former club exactly what they’re missing.