Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards (Picture: Getty)
Micah Richards questioned Alejandro Garnacho’s recent performances in a Chelsea shirt and suggested the Argentine is currently failing ‘to do the basics’.
Much was expected of Garnacho in a Chelsea shirt after he made the £40million move to Stamford Bridge from Manchester United having fallen out of favour under Ruben Amorim.
But the 21-year-old is yet to catch fire under Enzo Maresca or Liam Rosenior, scoring just one goal in his first 16 Premier League appearances.
Garnacho has started just two league games since the turn of the year, most recently hauled off at half-time after a miserable showing against West Ham at the end of January.
After three matches on the bench, the Argentine international returned to the starting lineup for the FA Cup fourth-round clash with Hull, but struggled to make an impact after a bright start against the Championship outfit.
And speaking before the game, former Manchester City defender Richards said the Chelsea winger has plenty of work to do to make himself a regular starter under Rosenior.
‘He and [Jorrel] Hato against West Ham, on that left-hand side, got hooked,’ Richards said on the BBC.
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Alejandro Garnacho endured a quiet night against Hull City in the FA Cup on Friday (Picture: Getty)
‘But he has got something. With Garnacho, you’d want him to be a bit more consistent. Fans have been on his back,’ Richards claimed.
‘He needs to show more conviction. He’s not tracking runs. You need to be doing the basics, especially with the competition.
‘As a full-back, I’d push him high because he’s not going to track the runner.’
Garnacho has started just two league games under Liam Rosenior this year (Picture: Getty)
Garnacho looks ‘shot to pieces’ – Neville
‘Alejandro Garnacho is a player that divides opinion, I think, at times,’ Neville told Sky Sports after Chelsea’s win over West Ham.
‘A lot of people are questioning, is he top-class or where is he? Where is he in the pecking order?
‘What was difficult to watch last night was a young player like that, who’s gone to Chelsea and he looked shot to pieces in terms of his confidence on that left-hand side.
‘I’m not just talking about when [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka kept going off him running forward, but actually when he got the ball, his first touch was back and then he just kept going back and giving it away.’
While Garnacho has struggled in recent weeks, not everyone has given up hope, with Joe Cole suggesting the ‘sky is the limit’ for the winger.
‘I would love to coach Alejandro Garnacho,’ the Stamford Bridge hero told The Sun. ‘He’s such a super-talented footballer.
‘The sky‘s the limit. He could be anything, he really could. I’d love to go through his clips. There’s a few technical things he can do better from a coaching performance in both boxes.
‘Because he’s not like an old-fashioned winger or a number 10, he’s a wing forward. There’s a massive scope if he puts himself in better positions.
‘But I also think he might need a little arm around his shoulder and a little bit of maturity in terms of how to conduct yourself as a footballer.’
A comfortable 4-0 win over Hull City saw Chelsea put their name in the hat for Monday’s fifth-round FA Cup draw.
And the Blues’ focus will now return to league action, with Rosenior’s side to host relegation-threatened Burnley next Saturday.
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