Liam Rosenior’s exit from Chelsea was confirmed on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
Before Liam Rosenior was officially unveiled as Chelsea head coach, his face and voice were already circulating widely across social media. A clip from his tenure as Strasbourg manager featuring the now notorious quote, “in English, ‘manage’, if you split the two words ‘man’ and ‘age’, so you’re ageing men”, ensured this role was always going to be an uphill struggle.
From the outset, neutral supporters up and down the country failed to take him seriously. Chelsea fans, with their club at the centre of the ridicule, similarly found it hard to get behind him. What followed was a head coach whom many felt spoke far too much, with his words failing to be matched by performances out on the pitch.
BlueCo had worked alongside Rosenior extensively during his spell at Strasbourg, where he performed admirably, with the sporting directors intimately familiar with every aspect of the 41-year-old’s methods at Stade de Meinau. Much has transformed at Stamford Bridge since BlueCo acquired the club in May 2022, with the ownership group striving to return the Blues to the glory days they savoured under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship.
Rosenior, they believed, was the man to deliver, someone capable of spearheading their ambitious vision. A sharp, emerging English coach brimming with personality and charisma, if occasionally unconventional in his public presentation. Rosenior was under no illusion that prejudice would surround his appointment – none of it caught him off guard, he insisted – yet it proved increasingly challenging for people to regard him with any real credibility.
BlueCo, importantly, always did regard him seriously. There was simply an acknowledgement in the end that this role perhaps arrived too soon for the young manager, reports football.london.
It didn’t consistently appear that way, though, with Rosenior beginning with a genuinely promising start. Seven wins from his opening nine fixtures in charge across all competitions – with the only two losses coming against high-flying Arsenal – had people discussing Rosenior for the right reasons.
Briefly, at least. Then it all began to unravel. The journey to Paris in early-to-mid-March is where it all appeared to shift for Rosenior. The beginning of the end in many respects.
Losing to the European champions, arguably the finest team on the planet right now – there’s no disgrace in that. The circumstances surrounding that defeat lead to a more critical assessment, however.
Chelsea were at least matching Luis Enrique’s PSG side for 74 minutes in the French capital. With the score level at 2-2 at Parc des Princes, a sloppy error from goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen led to Vitinha putting PSG back ahead. Then it was four, and then it was five. In the space of 20 minutes, Chelsea’s Champions League aspirations were extinguished.
This all felt entirely preventable. Robert Sanchez was outstanding for Chelsea in the first half of the season (and the latter stages of last). It felt like Sanchez, who has experienced more lows than highs during his spell at Stamford Bridge, had turned a corner. The Spanish goalkeeper made a slight error in Chelsea’s loss away at Arsenal on March 1 and found himself dropped to the bench for the visit to Aston Villa just days later. Jorgensen performed admirably that day but proved costly for Chelsea in France a week afterwards.
It seemed like a significant blunder at the time to remove Sanchez and undermine his confidence. It still does, nearly two months later. An unnecessary blow to his self-belief.
Rosenior, despite the defeat in Paris, remained positive. He had little choice; Newcastle United were due at Stamford Bridge just three days later. A 1-0 loss to the Magpies threatened an unwelcome losing streak for Chelsea, particularly with PSG travelling to west London for the second leg shortly afterwards.
That, rather predictably, concluded in a convincing PSG victory and supporters began to turn against the former Chelsea head coach. And then came the Enzo Fernandez bombshell.
Following his flirtation with a transfer to Real Madrid, Rosenior, working alongside the club’s sporting leadership team, opted to take a firm stance and ban Fernandez over his public remarks. They chose not to suspend Marc Cucurella, who similarly hinted at a departure from Stamford Bridge during an interview. Fernandez was absent from the FA Cup victory over Port Vale and the Premier League defeat against Manchester City. Rosenior faced considerable criticism for such a momentous call, risking further alienation of a key player in Fernandez. Notably, the club’s stance on the Argentina midfielder changed as a consequence, and he is no longer considered the ‘untouchable’ figure he once was with regard to a potential departure in the summer transfer window.
Many of these players were left taken aback and disheartened by Enzo Maresca‘s exit in January. Winning over a dressing room is never straightforward. Even less so when they haven’t moved on from their previous manager.
Liam Rosenior’s final game in charge was Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton (Image: Getty)
There is a remarkable statistic circulating at present: Chelsea have been outrun in every single Premier League match this season. Is it a question of insufficient effort, or is it connected to the exhaustion of players who have been playing relentlessly for two consecutive seasons? Rosenior hinted at the former during his final press conference as Chelsea head coach.
Rosenior arrived mid-season, which is always a challenging situation for any head coach, yet he remained unwilling to make excuses. The Express’ sister title in the capital, football.london, put this to him directly in his very first press conference at Cobham: “That [to be judged after a full summer] is impossible here. It is impossible for me to be judged next season.
“It’s not ideal, every coach would love to come in the summer, be able to sit for six weeks in the sun, develop your philosophy, learn about players. But that is not the reality of football.”
The inability to carry out those objectives he outlined in January proved a significant hindrance to Rosenior. He had precious little time to work with his squad on the training pitch. Yet, in his final weeks as Chelsea manager, he was afforded greater opportunities to put his ideas into practice, but they simply weren’t getting through to the players. Either that, or he lost the dressing room – something he was unwilling to address during his final press conference in Brighton.
Chelsea supporters, while the majority of them called for Rosenior’s dismissal, largely believe BlueCo are the primary culprit behind the club’s deterioration. A substantial protest took place ahead of Rosenior’s last home fixture in charge, with hundreds of fans marching towards Stamford Bridge to voice their frustration at how BlueCo are managing the club.
Thus far, the ownership group, headed by co-owner Behdad Eghbali, have failed to demonstrate any signs of a sustainable long-term model. Last season saw Chelsea claim two major honours, among them the inaugural revamped FIFA Club World Cup, which represented genuine progress for BlueCo. This campaign, however, has seen those gains reversed considerably.
Rosenior’s tenure at Chelsea came to an end on Wednesday, when key members of the club’s sporting leadership team held crisis talks regarding his future. While the players were granted a day off – standard practice following any result – Chelsea’s hierarchy ultimately resolved to part ways with Rosenior. It is difficult to believe Eghbali made these comments last week: “On Liam, we had the opportunity to work with him daily for 18 months, so we knew what we were getting.
“We think he has every attribute to be successful here. He got off to a great start. We’ve had a tough past five, six matches, but I think we’re behind Liam. Of course, it’s a results business, but we think he can be successful long term.”
With five consecutive defeats and no goals scored during that spell, coupled with match-going supporters turning against him, Chelsea opted to part ways with Rosenior four days ahead of their FA Cup semi-final. It is invariably a monumental decision to take and there is never a perfect moment to implement it.
The Blues hierarchy will be hoping the change can inject some spirit back into the players ahead of the journey to Wembley, with a shot at a major final on the line.
This doesn’t paint BlueCo in a favourable light. Dismissing a young head coach just three-and-a-half months into a six-and-a-half-year contract, it does not reflect well. Senior figures within the consortium acknowledge that and have accepted accountability that some wrong decisions have been made – and this has to be one of them – and will now bide their time when it comes to replacing Rosenior.
It’s understood that, at the time of writing, there are no active talks with any prospective successors. The club will conduct a careful, considered process to find a coach who aligns with their long-term ambition and vision. In the meantime, Calum McFarlane will take interim charge. Once again.
It is hard not to feel a degree of sympathy for Rosenior. From the very moment he walked through the door, he was subjected to unfair ridicule and mockery. Changing the nationwide perception surrounding him always seemed like a monumental task.
He ultimately fell short in that regard, yet an exciting career in management undoubtedly awaits him. Throughout his brief tenure at Chelsea, Rosenior consistently maintained that, regardless of how challenging circumstances became, he was relishing the pressure and responsibility that came with the role.
In the end, however, it proved too much. Whether Rosenior will look back on these few months with any degree of fondness remains to be seen. One silver lining for Rosenior, at least, is that he never got round to buying a house.