Joe Cole champions the electrifying talent of Garnacho but highlights his struggle with tactical positioning, suggesting a key to unlocking his full potential.
Alejandro Garnacho’s inconsistency returned. After leaving Manchester United amid conflicts with Ruben Amorim (who, by the way, has since been dismissed due to poor results), the forward arrived at Chelsea hoping to revive his form and regain the place Lionel Scaloni had given him on Argentina’s national team.
And while at one point he appeared to be recovering, his performance dips returned. So much so that in the last FA Cup match against Arsenal, the Madrid-born player only got 15 minutes, and against Leeds in the Premier League this past Tuesday, Liam Rosenior, his manager, did not even consider him for a late cameo.
In response, Joe Cole — a midfielder who played seven years at Chelsea between 2003 and 2010, a period in which the London club won 10 trophies, three of them Premier League titles — came to his defense. “I would love to coach Alejandro Garnacho, he’s a super-talented footballer,” Cole said in an interview with The Sun.
Cole even showed great esteem for Garnacho, suggesting he has far more to give: “The sky’s the limit. He could be anything, he really could. I’d love to go through his clips. There are a few technical things he can do better from a coaching performance in both boxes.”
He also explained why Garnacho is not performing and, in a way, questioned the decisions of Liam Rosenior and the other Premier League managers the player has had: “Because he’s not like an old-fashioned winger or a number ten, he’s a wing forward. There’s a massive scope if he puts himself in better positions.”
Alejandro Garnacho has played a total of 28 matches for Chelsea FC during the current 2025/26 campaign. In that span, the 21-year-old attacker has accumulated six goals and three assists in 1,434 minutes of action since his transfer from Manchester United in August.
In the Premier League, Garnacho has appeared in 16 games, recording one goal and three assists in 896 minutes. His most notable scoring form has come in the EFL Cup, where he has four goals in four matches, while in the UEFA Champions League, he has one goal in seven appearances.
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