Liam Rosenior’s spell at Chelsea began with him playing 11 games in 35 days, with at most only four days between games. With his schedule limiting his time on the practice pitch, he focused on not trying to change too much.
Rosenior explained his thoughts after the FA Cup opener against Charlton in January. “This is a team that won the Club World Cup. That was five months ago. This is a team that won the Conference League last year. They are well-coached.”
The new head coach felt like Enzo Maresca left behind a strong tactical foundation. In retrospect, his early results confirmed that. Chelsea won eight of their first 11 games under Rosseniol, with their only loss coming in the Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal.
During that period, several adjustments were made to their approach. It was clear from the spell that Rosenior prefers a much more aggressive man-to-man press than his predecessor. But overall, he preferred a lighter touch to get through his hectic schedule.
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Chelsea have had 60 shots on target since they last scored in the Premier League, their longest run without scoring since 1912.
After the FA Cup win over Hull in February, the schedule was relaxed to allow an eight-day break between matches.
Finally, it’s a chance for Rosenior to properly execute his idea.
“I told the players in the team meeting on Thursday morning that this is the first time since I’ve been working with them that we’ve gone into a game with a two-day tactical lead,” he told a press conference ahead of the game against Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
“It’s been a day so far. Go outside, walk around certain situations and scenarios, rest, play,” he added. “Thursday was our first chance to talk and really work on our style and what we wanted to put into our game.
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Sky Sports’ David Reid breaks down Chelsea’s defeat against Brighton and the terrible stats from the game at the Amex Stadium
“Any coach will tell you that the more time you spend with a group, the more you can imprint what you want.”
The problem was that the more time Rosenior spent with the players on the training pitch, the worse Chelsea appeared to be.
The match against Burnley ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw. Two months after the win against Hull, Rosenior was sacked after winning just three of 12 games. And two of those wins came against lower league opponents in Wrexham and Port Vale.
He was forced to leave Chelsea after losing five consecutive league games without scoring for the first time since 1912. Of course, he’s not solely responsible. Chelsea’s plight is a story of top-down mismanagement. But a pattern of poor performance as he spent more time on the practice field undermined his efforts.
After the match against Burnley, Chelsea suffered their third defeat against Rosenior’s Arsenal following the international break in February. The defeats to Manchester City and Manchester United in April came after uninterrupted preparations in midweek.
The schedule was cleared, but the performance was even more chaotic.
By April, cracks were beginning to show, with Enzo Fernandes begging to come to Real Madrid during the March international break and Marc Cucurella publicly questioning the decision to sack Maresca during the Spain international tour.
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Brighton and Chelsea.
What happened on the pitch also undermined Rosenior’s authority. His commitment to an aggressive man-to-man marking system appeared naive in an embarrassing 8-2 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Coach Maro Gusto’s comments after losing the first leg by five goals suggested some players agreed. “At the end of the day, I think we need to realize when it’s important to stay calm and wait so as not to concede too many goals,” said the defender.
During the two games against Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle were able to exploit the same flaw. There was confusion as to who was in charge of pressing Tino Livramento, and the full-back broke free and ran up the pitch to score the winning goal.
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Liam Rosenior apologizes to Chelsea fans after defeat at Amex Stadium
“They were playing man-to-man and we knew we could get them out,” goal scorer Anthony Gordon said after the game.
Rosenior, on the other hand, described this as a “new pressing method”. “We press differently than most teams,” he added. However, his team showed exactly why it is unpopular to take this approach all over the pitch and not just in specific zones. All it takes is one mistake to break up an aggressive press like this.
Rosenior sometimes couldn’t help himself.
His furious reaction to Arsenal’s coach invading Chelsea’s half during the warm-up before the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final drew unnecessary attention. The introduction of a pre-match huddle in the center circle also looked ridiculous, culminating in the farcical scene of referee Paul Tierney being surrounded before the Newcastle game started.
Rosenior’s comment about “respecting the ball” brought further ridicule.
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Paul Tierney was left surrounded as Chelsea’s squad gathered for the game against Newcastle.
Since the incident, Chelsea have failed to score in six of their seven competitive matches, with the only exception being a 7-0 win over League One side Port Vale in the FA Cup. Rosenior said he felt no disconnect with his players after their recent hiatus against Brighton, but their “undefendable” performance suggested otherwise.
Rosenior can rightly claim that the job he took on at Chelsea midway through the season was always difficult. He inherited a team with obvious flaws. Due to the reinforcements at the club, there is a clear lack of experience and leadership among the players.
But comparisons with Manchester United are jarring.
To be fair, Michael Carrick has never had to contend with such a hectic schedule. However, he has spent time on the training pitch to make the team better. For Rosenior, the opposite seems to be true.
The Premier League table since January 17, when both Rosenior and Carrick oversaw their first matches, has seen Manchester United at the top and clearly on an upward trajectory, while Chelsea are 10th and regressing under a head coach who has run out of time.
