Alejandro Garnacho’s “sense of entitlement” during Chelsea’s win over Nottingham Forest was harshly criticized by Troy Deeney.
The Argentinian made only his second Premier League start Blues since his £40m move from Manchester United.
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The 21-year-old, who has yet to score in his first five appearances under Enzo Maresca, had a unique opportunity to impress the visitors.
Chelsea were without Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and, above all, their talisman Cole Palmer in the 3-0 win at the City Ground.
Garnacho, who started in the 2-1 win over Liverpool before the international break, was given another chance in Maresca’s team.
However, the winger was virtually anonymous for Chelsea in a poor first half and The Pitch Prospect commentator Deeney was far from impressed.
After a bad cross, Deeney told GameDay: “Really disappointed in Garnacho today. I’m not convinced by him anyway, as you know.”
Minutes later, the Argentina international sparked ironic cheers from the Forest fans after failing to control the ball in the corner.
“I’m no expert on body language, but his entitlement makes me incredibly angry,” Deeney added. “The fact that he hasn’t sprinted once and we’re 33 minutes into a game…
“He doesn’t run with intensity. He doesn’t say, ‘You know what? I’m lucky enough to have left Man United at a bad moment and gone to a Chelsea team that’s successful.’
“He got one start – his second of the season, and he doesn’t give you anything. He doesn’t run around.
“Every time the ball comes out to him he thinks: If it’s not perfect, he won’t run – the young man’s sense of entitlement is scary.”
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While Garnacho awaits his first Chelsea goal, he secured an assist for Richard Ríos’ own goal in the Champions League win over Benfica.
But at half-time against Forest he only had 18 touches of the ball, only one of which was in the opponent’s penalty area and resulted in no chances.
Garnacho had an expected assist rate of 0.01, with just one successful dribble and zero shots.
Deeney continued: “He’s got skills, there’s no doubt about it. The boy is very talented but in games you have to get the basics down well first.”
“It’s just coming to him now, but look [after Garnacho loses his one and only aerial duel]Don’t feel like it, don’t even go for the header.
“He expects the ball to be passed to him and once he gets involved, he runs around.”
Alejandro Garnacho vs Nottingham Forest
Minutes: 45
Shots: 0
Touches: 18
Touches in the opponent’s box: 1
Passes into the final third: 1
Exact edges: 0
Successful dribbles: 1
Accurate passes: 7/8
Opportunities created: 0
Expected Assists (xA) 0.01
Tackles: 1
Ground duels won: 4/5
Aerial duels won: 0/1
Fouls committed: 1
“It runs at about half speed and half mass, I don’t know.
“My concern with his Chelsea team is always that it’s young, but who’s the one driving it? Now who’s this older player who’s going to say, ‘Okay, let’s go for it.’
“[Garnacho’s] just walk around. If I were Jeremy Gittins or Tyrique George I would be running up and down, warming up and telling the manager I’m ready to go because this is really, really bad.”
Maresca agreed with Deeney’s verdict as Garnacho was properly substituted at half-time and Jamie Gittens was one of three substitutes at the break.
The former Borussia Dortmund star came on alongside Moises Caicedo and Marc Guiu, with the changes being instantaneous.
Garnacho’s opponent on the Chelsea wing, Pedro Neto, gave the visitors the lead a few minutes after the restart.
The Portuguese star’s cross was converted by Josh Acheampong, with Neto himself scoring a second almost immediately after, before Reece James added a third late on.