Liam Rosenior is facing criticism early in his tenure as Chelsea manager – but is it fair, and are his players on board before the season reaches its climax?
Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Everton meant Chelsea suffered a fourth straight loss for the first time since 2023. They sit sixth in the Premier League table, with a fifth-place finish likely to guarantee Champions League football.
Results are a concern given Chelsea‘s ambition to qualify for next season’s elite European competition, although they remain only one point behind fifthplaced Liverpool following the Reds’ loss at Brighton.
The gap did widen, though, to Manchester United and Aston Villa, who drew and won respectively, leaving the Blues six points off fourth spot and with less margin for error.
There is no suggestion inside Chelsea that Rosenior, who succeeded Enzo Maresca in January when he joined from partner club Strasbourg, is in danger of losing his job, either now or at the end of the season.
There is an understanding that he took over mid-season from Maresca, who walked away following a falling-out with the hierarchy, even though the club had hoped the Italian would remain until at least the summer.
Such is the strength of support for Rosenior – who is under contract until 2032 – that he has been heavily involved in regular transfer planning meetings with sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
After the current international break, Chelsea host Port Vale in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, 4 April, before Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge against Manchester City and Manchester United.
Injuries and workload – in Rosenior’s defence
“We’ve had 10 league games together as a group – we’ve got 17 points. We’re fourth in the table in my time, so we have to forget the noise,” Rosenior said on Saturday.
Victories in his first four Premier League matches calmed initial fears about the appointment, as Chelsea climbed from eighth back into the Champions League spots.
But by winning just one of their past six Premier League games and dropping to sixth, the club seems to be back to square one.
Injuries and disciplinary issues continue to be problems, while Rosenior has blamed the club’s workload for a statistic showing Chelsea have been outrun by every team this campaign.
Since the start of last season, they have played 113 matches – more than any other Premier League club – after winning the Conference League and the newly expanded summer Club World Cup. They also had their shortest gap between seasons of just 35 days.
In an attempt to cope, Chelsea have made 99 changes to their Premier League starting line-ups this season, more than any other club.
Is there cause for renewed concern?
Rosenior has overseen a dip in form since he began introducing his own tactical methods at Stamford Bridge.
In his first month – when he won seven of his first nine matches – he largely, by his own admission, stuck to Maresca’s game plan because he had little time to work on the training pitch.
However, after avoiding the Champions League play-offs, Rosenior had time to bring more of his own tactical ideology into the team, and form has subsequently dropped off.
In his first month, Rosenior focused on addressing some low-hanging issues, such as discipline, raising the team’s intensity, and improving concentration.
Yet back-to-back red cards
Against Burnley and Arsenal followed, and Chelsea continues to be outrun in the Premier League, and lapses in concentration have become a weekly gripe from the 41-year-old.
He has also said he needs to rotate his players more effectively to keep them fresh, while facing criticism for not having a clear firstchoice goalkeeper amid a late-season dip in form by Maresca’s former number one, Robert Sanchez.
Rosenior told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We will now have more time to analyse instead of jumping from game to game, which we can do with less emotion and sit down as a staff to talk about how we improve.”
It is not only Rosenior facing growing criticism, as Chelsea supporters have begun chanting antiownership songs and are planning a second demonstration at the stadium, alongside Strasbourg’s ultras, before the match against Manchester United on Saturday, 18 April.
If Rosenior were to fail, it would reflect poorly on the BlueCo leadership at Stamford Bridge, and it is a case of fighting on with success in the FA Cup, and qualifying for the Champions League is still a possibility.
