Alejandro Garnacho: Paul Robinson hands brutal verdict on ex-United star | OneFootball

Former Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho hardly made an impression in his first appearance against the Red Devils this weekend. The Argentine left Old Trafford last summer to join Chelsea on a permanent deal after a reported fallout with former head coach Ruben Amorim.

Garnacho initially arrived at Carrington from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2020 before earning a promotion to the senior side under former manager Erik ten Hag. Once regarded as the rising star of the academy, the Red Devils ultimately ran out of patience with the 21 year old’s continued tryst with controversies and moved him on.

Garnacho was an unused substitute when the Blues visited Old Trafford in September and lost 2-1. The Argentine was called into action at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, replacing the injured Estevao in the 17th minute.

Garnacho has endured a difficult time since joining Chelsea, with off-field issues once again making headlines. United, meanwhile, had no trouble dealing with their former academy graduate, and went on to pick up a hard-fought 1-0 win courtesy of a Matheus Cunha goal.

Garnacho’s season so far

Garnacho was one of United’s key players last season, but INEOS opted to let him go at the end of the campaign as part of an attacking revamp. That decision already looks like a wise one, with the Red Devils’ new-look frontline powering them to third in the Premier League table.

The Argentine, meanwhile, has been in and out of the starting XI, first under Enzo Maresca and now under Liam Rosenior. Garnacho has registered eight goals and four assists in 39 appearances across all competitions this season, 21 of which have been starts.

Alejandro Garnacho Stats: 2025/26

Source: Transfermarkt.

On Wednesday, Diogo Dalot effectively dealt with Garnacho, who did very little of note. Former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson reckons the Argentine has already proven United right.

United praised for offloading Garnacho

Asked what impression Garnacho had made against his former team, Robinson told Stadium Astro: “That he’s not good enough to be a regular starter for Chelsea and Manchester United may have done some good business.”

“I think the season that he left Manchester United, I was surprised that they let him go because you look at his stats that season at Manchester United, he was their most creative player. You look at the goals he scored, the assists that he got, but somebody saw something at Manchester United that we saw tonight.”

“He was supposed to be a game changer off the bench, obviously not that early on in the game, but for me, he runs down dead ends too many times. He gets the ball and immediately his head’s down and he’s gone. He’s very, very one-dimensional in the way that he attacks. Yes, he’s an attacking threat, but he’s quite easy to defend against.”

Too predictable

Robinson insisted that full-backs have no trouble dealing with the Argentine as he is too predictable, adding: “As a full-back, surely you’d like to defend against him because he’s quite predictable. It can be taught and that’s what good coach coaches do if you’re willing to listen.”

“It’s like anything in life, if you keep doing the same thing and it’s not working, what do you do? You change it. He kept doing the same thing tonight and he didn’t change it. It was either a blind run at his full-back, which was so predictable, or he turns, rotates, and keeps possession into the middle of the field.”

United were without four first-team central defenders against Chelsea, with Ayden Heaven starting alongside Noussair Mazraoui in a makeshift centre-back pairing. However, the visitors defended well and even managed to pick up a clean sheet, highlighting the Blues’ lack of attacking impetus.

Final Thoughts

United have been vindicated in their decision to offload Garnacho, whose situation will be of little interest to fans. The Red Devils, meanwhile, have done the double over Chelsea this season, and have stepped closer to securing Champions League football for next campaign.

Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images

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