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Given Chelsea‘s secrets were leaked for the second successive week before facing Paris Saint-Germain, we may as well start with a small team news story.
Nearly five hours before Chelsea versus Arsenal in the Carabao Cup at Stamford Bridge a couple of months back, Liam Rosenior’s XI made its way into my possession. An hour later an update arrived to say there was a late change and ‘MG’ would now be in the starting line-up instead.
I didn’t write up a news line out of it. For a couple of reasons. One: you risk looking like an idiot if wrong. And two: you come across as a traitor to the club you cover if right. It’s a lose-lose situation, and not worth the hassle for the sake of scooping the official team sheet.
Other than forwarding it to a couple of colleagues so we could see whether it was correct, nothing was done with the information. It was a good job, too, because the automatic assumption was ‘MG’ stood for Malo Gusto and that he would be replacing Josh Acheampong in the XI received. It actually stood for Marc Guiu, who was a late replacement for the unwell Liam Delap.
Doh. Save for that ‘MG’ misunderstanding, the XI was bang on, and this came from someone who does not work within Chelsea. So team news flies around on the days of games. Sometimes, Rosenior and his assistants will get information on their opponents.
While unhelpful, Chelsea will not blame the leaks in the French media for losing this two-legged tie by such a large margin. Nor should they. Sure, PSG knew Rosenior’s XI for the first leg, and will have noted the reports saying Wesley Fofana would not start the second leg as Trevoh Chalobah and Jorrel Hato had been practising together as a centre-back pairing in training.
Liam Rosenior’s team being leaked was not the reason for Chelsea’s humiliation against PSG
The gulf in quality between the two teams – in personnel and in tactics – was the main factor
But it was the gulf in quality – both in the players on the pitch and in the instructions given to them by their bosses – which made the biggest difference once all was said and done.
When examining this two-legged humbling by PSG, Rosenior cannot escape his share of the blame for the calls which backfired on him, ballsy though they were.
Two selection choices in particular contributed to this 8-2 defeat.
Firstly, using Filip Jorgensen in the first leg at the Parc des Princes, with Robert Sanchez’s 23-year-old replacement showing why he is not up to the standard of these nights just yet in a 5-2 loss. He created PSG’s third goal in that tie and was weak when conceding their fourth and fifth.
Secondly, using Mamadou Sarr in an awkward position at right back at Stamford Bridge, with the central defender who was brought in from Strasbourg in January making the mistake which led to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s opener within six minutes. Managed by a much more experienced coach in Luis Enrique, PSG appeared to target Sarr’s side before he was then hooked at half-time.
Rosenior can argue he had little choice, with the injured Reece James and ill Malo Gusto meaning he was lacking right backs, but he had other options than Sarr. The 20-year-old’s night will only have been made worse when he learned that the Africa Cup of Nations final result had been overturned in a major ruling, declaring his Senegal side to have forfeited that match to Morocco.
We can say Rosenior was brave in sticking his neck out with the selections he made over these two legs, but unfortunately for Chelsea’s head coach, PSG knew what was coming and had the guillotine prepared.
Enzo Fernandez let Chelsea down by hinting he could leave in his post-match comments
FERNANDEZ LET DOWN CHELSEA
It was hardly a good look that Chelsea’s captain on the night, Enzo Fernandez, immediately used an interview with ESPN Argentina to throw his future with the club in jeopardy.
Yes, he was only answering a direct question on what will happen this summer, but he chose to say ‘I don’t know’ and ‘we will see’. He could easily have gone down a different route if he wished, even if emotions were running high so soon after a devastating European exit.
A colleague at Stamford Bridge kindly verified that the Fernandez quotes circulating on social media were indeed legitimate before they were used by the likes of ourselves in the English press. You imagine Chelsea will have done the same.
Rosenior was not aware of them when asked at his press conference, but you do wonder what he, and Chelsea, will make of them after the dust from this defeat has settled.