“At some point in life, there are offers you can’t refuse. I couldn’t refuse this opportunity. It’s the world champion club, with an incredible squad and an incredible audience. » This statement from Liam Rosenior, to justify his departure from Strasbourg at the beginning of January, has aged really badly. Because Chelsea and its owner BlueCo activated the coach’s ejection seat again this Wednesday. The one on which the promising but inexperienced Liam Rosenior (41 years old) burned his wings, after only 106 days.
The prestigious London club, renowned for its abundant transfers and the instability of its bench, announced that it had “separated” from the former Alsatian coach. Yes yes, after having appointed him less than four months ago, for a contract of an incredible duration, until 2032. The forty-year-old recognizable by his thin dark glasses and his hoodie will have only lasted 23 matches, carried away by a cataclysmic series of seven defeats in the last eight outings.
Calum McFarlane provides the interim
The announcement of his departure comes the day after a heavy 3-0 defeat at Brighton, the fifth in a row without a single goal scored in the league. The Blues had not experienced such a run since 1912. “The club has not taken this decision lightly, but recent results and performances have fallen below the required standards, while there is still much to play for this season,” management wrote in a press release.
Chelsea find themselves in 7th place in the Premier League after the debacle at the Seagulls, and they could still fall several places by the end of matchday 34 this weekend. Cole Palmer’s gang will try to get back on track on Sunday, in the semi-final of the FA Cup against Leeds, before their last four championship matches. The team will be managed during this period by Calum McFarlane, who had already taken over an interim role in January, between the dismissal of Enzo Maresca and the arrival of Rosenior.
Rosenior was already the 5th coach of the Blues version of BlueCo
“As the club strives to ensure the stability of the head coach position, we will carry out careful consideration to make the right appointment for the long term,” the statement said. The BlueCo group has already used five permanent coaches since its arrival in May 2022, from Thomas Tuchel to Rosenior via Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Maresca.
The Italian, for his part, had lasted a season and a half, with a 4th place in the Premier League in 2025, synonymous with qualification for the Champions League, a title in the Conference League and above all a coronation at the Club World Cup, after a brilliant final against PSG (3-0).
Chelsea dismissed him from his post on January 1, amid poor recent results and internal differences. BlueCo then went to poach Rosenior from RC Strasbourg, another club in its galaxy. A choice which surprised many observers in England because of his thin CV, as a player (Fulham, Reading, Brighton) and especially as a technician (youngster coach of Brighton, assistant at Derby County, coach of Hull City in the 2nd division).
Dropped by part of the locker room
His tenure at Stamford Bridge started rather well, but everything went off the rails from March in the wake of the severe defeat (5-2) in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against PSG. Specialized media assure that the young coach was abandoned by part of the locker room, notably Spanish speakers like Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez, a priori nostalgic for Maresca.
Our file on Chelsea
In any case, he did not survive Chelsea’s last performance against Brighton, “unacceptable” in his own words, finished without the slightest shot on target, and with half as many balls touched in the opposing area (15 compared to 30 for Brighton) or even 7 km less traveled than his opponent of the day. For the first time on Tuesday, Liam Rosenior did not seek to protect his players from criticism, on the contrary calling on them to “also look in the mirror”. In the absence of a possible double in the Coupe de France and the Conference League on the Alsatian bench in the coming weeks, here he is without a club.
Leave a Reply