Why Liam Rosenior was sacked by Chelsea as homeowners make resolution on replacements

Before Liam Rosenior was formally named Chelsea manager, his image and words were circulating across social media. A segment from his spell as Strasbourg chief featuring the now notorious remark, “in English, ‘manage’, if you split the two words ‘man’ and ‘age’, so you’re ageing men”, ensured this role would always prove challenging.

From the outset, neutral fans throughout the nation refused to regard him with any seriousness. Chelsea supporters, with their club bearing the brunt of the mockery, equally found it tough.

What emerged was a manager whom many felt spoke excessively while his messages wasn’t supported by his players’ performances on the field.

BlueCo had worked closely with Rosenior throughout his period at Strasbourg, where he delivered outstanding results, with the sporting directors understanding precisely how the 41-year-old operated at Stade de Meinau. So much has changed at Stamford Bridge since BlueCo acquired the club in May 2022 and the ownership consortium is attempting to restore the Blues to their glory days under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship.

Rosenior, they believed, represented the solution, somebody to lead their bold vision. A talented, emerging English manager possessing personality and magnetism, though occasionally unconventional in his self-presentation, reports football.london.

Rosenior understood there would be a stigma surrounding him upon his appointment – none of that surprised him, he revealed, yet it proved problematic for people to regard him seriously.

BlueCo, crucially, always did take him seriously. There was simply an acknowledgement in the end that this role perhaps arrived too soon for the young manager.

It didn’t always appear that way, though, with Rosenior making a genuinely promising beginning. Seven wins from his opening nine matches at the helm across all competitions – with the only two losses coming against high-flying Arsenal – had people discussing Rosenior for the right reasons.

Briefly, anyway. Then everything 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 ways.

Falling to the European champions, arguably the finest team on the planet right now – there’s no disgrace in that. The circumstances surrounding that loss leads to a more scathing assessment, however.

Chelsea were at least matching Luis Enrique’s PSG outfit for 74 minutes in the French capital. With the scoreline level at 2-2 at Parc des Princes, a reckless error from goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen allowed Vitinha to restore PSG’s advantage. Then it became four, and then it became five. Within the space of 20 minutes, Chelsea’s Champions League ambitions were crushed.

This all seemed entirely preventable. Robert Sanchez was outstanding for Chelsea in the opening half of the campaign (and the latter stages of last). It appeared as though Sanchez, who has endured more lows than highs during his spell at Stamford Bridge, had reached a turning point.

The Spanish shot-stopper made a slight error in Chelsea’s loss at Arsenal on March 1 and found himself relegated to the bench for the journey to Aston Villa a few days later. Jorgensen performed well that day but was responsible for Chelsea’s defeat in France a week later.

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It seemed like a massive blunder at the time to remove Sanchez and knock his confidence. It still feels that way, nearly two months later. An unnecessary blow to his self-belief.

Rosenior, despite the collapse in Paris, remained optimistic. He had no choice; Newcastle United were due at Stamford Bridge three days later. A 1-0 loss to the Magpies hinted at an unwelcome losing streak from Chelsea’s viewpoint, especially with PSG due in west London for the second leg a few days later.

That, rather predictably, culminated in a comfortable PSG victory and supporters began to turn against the former Chelsea head coach. And then the Enzo Fernandez revelation hit.

After toying with a transfer to Real Madrid, Rosenior, in conjunction with the club’s sporting leadership team, decided to take a stand and ban Fernandez for his public remarks. They opted not to suspend Marc Cucurella, who similarly hinted at a move away from Stamford Bridge in an interview.

Fernandez was absent from the FA Cup victory over Port Vale and the Premier League loss to Manchester City. Rosenior faced criticism for such a significant decision, risking further alienation of a key player in Fernandez. Intriguingly, the club’s stance on the Argentina midfielder shifted as a result, and he is no longer viewed as the ‘untouchable’ figure he once was regarding a potential summer transfer.

Many of these players were taken aback and disheartened by Enzo Maresca’s departure in January. Winning over a dressing room is always challenging, even more so when they’re still pining for their former boss.

There’s an astonishing statistic circulating at present: Chelsea have been outrun in every single Premier League match this season. Is it a lack of effort, or could it be related to how worn out these players are, having been in continuous action for two seasons now? Rosenior hinted at it being the former in his final press conference as Chelsea head coach.

Rosenior took over mid-season, which is always a tough task for a head coach, but he wasn’t interested in making excuses. football.london asked Rosenior about just that in his 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.”

Not being able to carry out those tasks he outlined in January hindered Rosenior. He didn’t have much time to work with his squad on the training pitch. However, in his final weeks as Chelsea manager, he did have more chances to put his ideas into practice, but they weren’t getting through to the players. Either that, or he lost the dressing room, something he didn’t want to discuss during his final press conference in Brighton.

While many Chelsea fans wanted Rosenior to leave, they believe BlueCo are primarily responsible for the club’s downturn. There was a large protest before Rosenior’s last home game in charge of Chelsea, where hundreds of supporters marched towards Stamford Bridge and expressed their dissatisfaction with how BlueCo are managing things.

So far, the ownership group, led by the club’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali, have failed to demonstrate signs of a positive long-term strategy. Last season saw Chelsea claim two major trophies, including the inaugural revamped FIFA Club World Cup, which was certainly a step forward for BlueCo. This season, however, there have been two steps back.

Rosenior’s tenure at Chelsea came to an end on Wednesday when key members of the club’s sporting leadership team held crisis talks about his future. While the players were given the day off, which is always the case after a match regardless of the result, Chelsea bosses decided to part ways with Rosenior.

It’s difficult to believe that Eghbali said these words just 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 losses and no goals during that period, plus match-going fans turning against him, Chelsea opted to part ways with Rosenior four days before their FA Cup semi-final. It’s always a massive call to make and there’s never a perfect moment to do it.

Chelsea bosses will be hoping the change can breathe fresh life into the squad for the Wembley journey, with a place in a major final at stake.

This doesn’t paint BlueCo in a favourable light. Dismissing a young manager merely three-and-a-half months into a six-and-a-half-year deal doesn’t look good. Senior figures within the consortium acknowledge that and have taken responsibility that some poor choices have been made – and this must be among them – and will now take their time when it comes to finding Rosenior’s successor.

It’s understood that, at present, there are no ongoing discussions with any potential replacements. The club will undertake a thorough, methodical search to identify a manager who fits with their long-term goals and philosophy. Meanwhile, Calum McFarlane will assume temporary control – yet again.

You cannot help but feel some compassion for Rosenior. From the moment he stepped into the role, he was unjustly ridiculed and mocked. It seemed such a mammoth task to shift the nationwide opinion.

He eventually fell short in achieving that, but a promising managerial career lies ahead of him. Rosenior maintained throughout his brief spell at Chelsea, regardless of how challenging circumstances became, that he was relishing the demands and accountability.

It proved overwhelming ultimately, however. Whether Rosenior will reflect on these months with affection is yet to be determined. One silver lining for Rosenior is that he never got around to buying a house.