Liam Rosenior cannot understand why Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho is regularly booed by opposition fans, but fears it is because people are quick to “judge a book by its cover.”
Garnacho is in the frame to start his first match since last month’s FA Cup win at Hull City due to a shortage of wingers for Chelsea’s visit to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Pedro Neto is suspended following his red card at Arsenal and Estevao and Jamie Gittens remain sidelined, giving the Argentina international a great chance of starting at Villa Park.
Opposition fanbases regularly boo Garnacho when he plays at away matches, and he is often jeered by away fans at Stamford Bridge, too.
Rosenior has praised the former Manchester United man for his reaction to playing less over recent weeks, but is bemused as to why he seems to divide opinion within the game.
“Garna is an outstanding player,” Rosenior said. “I have really liked in this period his reaction to not starting. He has been training very well.
“Garna has put himself in a really, really good place in the last few weeks and he’s more than knocking on the door to start.
“We've got to take into account that Garna is 21. He's got huge ability. He's got huge potential.”
On the topic of opposition fans booing Garnacho, Rosenior added: “I don't understand. I don't understand why that happens.
“Maybe it’s because he can be such a threat. Playing for a club like Chelsea, that just comes with the territory. You have to rise above that and not take notice of it. That's the best way for me. I don't think you use it as fuel. Your motivation should be there anyway to perform.
“It's not something that we've spoken about. We've had many conversations, but opposition fans booing you normally means you're a threat for the opposition. All Garna needs to do is keep working really hard because his ability is not in question.
“He’s had a very difficult thing happen in his life recently as well. And rather than tell me about that, he wanted to put himself forward for a game and told me after the game where he had to go back home.
“People make judgments based on the way people look. Garna is a really really good character who works really hard every day in training and I know in the end his quality is going to show in a really consistent way.”
Asked why there might be some unwarranted treatment of Garnacho, Rosenior replied: “Because people judge books by their cover. All I go off is what I know about someone, and not what I’ve heard about them or how they are perceived.”
When asked whether he feels Garnacho is sometimes guilty of diving, Rosenior said: “No.”
