Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca dismissed suggestions that the reaction of the Old Trafford crowd forced him to rethink his plans to bring Alejandro Garnacho off the bench against his former employers Manchester United on Saturday evening.
Maresca had insisted that Garnacho was “ready to start” heading into this weekend’s trip to Manchester. The summer recruit who was frozen out at United by Ruben Amorim had been afforded just two substitute appearances for Chelsea following his £44 million ($53.9 million) move at the end of August.
While Garnacho didn’t make it into the starting XI this weekend, his introduction appeared imminent when Maresca was spotted in dialogue with the winger during the second half of a bonkers contest. The Argentina international was sent out to warm up along the touchline where he was met with a volley of boos and some sharp-tongued chants from a boisterous Old Trafford crowd.
In the 64th minute, teenage forward Tyrique George replaced Marc Cucurella while Garnacho was forced back onto the bench. Right back Malo Gusto was called upon as a direct replacement for Fofana who asked to be subbed off.
With all five allotted substitutes on the pitch, Garnacho sunk back into his seat and deeper under his grey parker.
Chelsea became the first team in Premier League history to make three substitutions within the opening 21 minutes of a match. pic.twitter.com/jWZDQtCf07
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) September 20, 2025
When asked about the change of heart regarding Garnacho’s introduction, Maresca insisted it had nothing to do with the hostile reception. “No,” the Italian shrugged postgame, “he was ready to go on, and then Wes asked for a change.”
Maresca admitted that “the idea was to give Garnacho minutes” before Fofana complained of tiredness after being sidelined for so long with various injury concerns. Quite why George was tossed onto the pitch rather than Garnacho was not directly addressed by Maresca.
The Blues boss had plenty to deal with during a biblical downpour on Saturday. Chelsea were forced to play 85 minutes of Saturday’s match with just 10 players following goalkeeper Robert Sánchez’s early dismissal. Brazilian forward Estêvão was immediately replaced with backup shot-stopper Filip Jörgensen but Maresca also made the curious decision to haul Pedro Neto off the pitch during the same break in play.
With just seven minutes on the clock, it became the quickest double substitution in Premier League history.
Neto was replaced by centre back Tosin Adarabioyo which allowed Chelsea to switch to a backline of five defenders. “The reason why we changed Pedro and Estêvão was because they attack with the five players always, and we defend with the four,” Maresca reasoned.
“We can defend with the four when we are 11 vs 11, but 11 against them, I think we need to defend on the width, so we decided to go with the back five, this is the reason why.”
That tactical switch didn’t stop Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro from scoring before halftime. A red card for United’s Brazilian midfielder evened up the numbers on the pitch, but Chelsea could only get one goal back in what conspired to be a chaotic 2–1 defeat.
It wasn’t a pleasant outing for any in Chelsea blue, yet it must have been a particularly bitter return to Old Trafford for the unused Garnacho.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘He Was Ready’—Enzo Maresca Explains Alejandro Garnacho Snub Against Man Utd.
