Why Chelsea have turned to ‘innovator’ Rosenior

There is pressure on Chelsea to get this appointment right, with some supporters chanting the name of former owner Roman Abramovich during Sunday’s draw at Manchester City and a fringe group of fans planning a protest against the owners before the next home Premier League match against Brentford.

It is against that backdrop they have turned to a man who is well known to key figures at Stamford Bridge.

Rosenior first met Chelsea‘s co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart more than 15 years ago while playing for Brighton.

And Sam Jewell – Chelsea‘s director of global recruitment – worked closely with Rosenior when he began coaching Brighton Under-23s after retiring.

Rosenior also knew Stewart during his time as an analyst at Hull, where he played and later managed.

Last summer, during the Club World Cup, he travelled to the United States with Strasbourg president Marc Keller to meet Chelsea‘s leadership, and owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly have made regular visits to the French club.

He has always been seen as a potential successor to Maresca, but a mid-season change was not planned. Chelsea hoped Rosenior could continue to build experience at Strasbourg, but Maresca’s comments at the end of last year forced the owners into a change.

They see their new man, who favours a similar possession-based style, as the most seamless option.

Sources close to Rosenior also believe he has a more empathetic tone of communication – drawing on lessons from his mother Karen, who is a social worker.

He will face scrutiny over his perceived rawness, but Chelsea will point to the fact he has more experience than Maresca when the Italian was appointed in 2024.

Maresca had won the Championship, of course, while Rosenior has yet to lift a trophy – but the incoming coach has managed 153 senior games at Hull and Strasbourg compared with his predecessor’s 67. Maresca was also Pep Guardiola’s assistant during Manchester City‘s Treble-winning season of 2022-23.

There is also the issue of Rosenior coming to Chelsea on a bad run of form, having won none of his past five Ligue 1 matches, just two in 10, and having dropped 13 points from winning positions this season.

French football expert Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I really believe the owners put him in the Strasbourg job to get him ready for the Chelsea job one day.

“I think if he showed he could be capable at Strasbourg, which is taking a team which was almost going down into Europe – to taking it close to Champions League qualification, which is what he did last season.

“I think that showed his potential. It showed his development, showed his ability to improve the team and players individually.”

Maresca has picked the youngest average starting XI – aged 24 years and 198 days – in the Premier League so far this season. His final match in charge featured his youngest line-up of the season, with an average age of 23 years and 157 days.

And his wish for the club to sign some more experienced players is felt to have sparked some of the discontent that led to his departure.

But the Blues are confident history is unlikely to repeat itself with Rosenior, who at Strasbourg led the youngest team in Europe’s big five leagues – with an average age of just 21.47.

They believe he understands the brief, which places significant importance on improving younger players – either to sell, or to take the club to the next level.

Among his successes at Strasbourg, Rosenior has developed striker Emmanuel Emegha to a level that means he is set to join Chelsea next season.

In addition, he guided his young squad to a seventh-place finish last season – earning a Europa Conference League spot, and matching a position achieved only twice since 1981. During his first season, they came close to Champions League qualification.

There will be inevitable accusations that Chelsea are bringing in Rosenior as a ‘yes man’.

Former Blues winger Pat Nevin told BBC Sport before the appointment he thought the club would “get someone in who is young and easy to manipulate”.

“Chelsea need someone who is going to buy into the methodology,” he said. “Another way to say that is, you need a puppet. Someone who does exactly what they are told from above.”

Chelsea, of course, would say Rosenior isn’t a puppet and they have simply hired an outstanding candidate capable of taking the club forward.

Rosenior has built a reputation as a rising star in coaching.

Strasbourg president Marc Keller has called him an “innovator”, praising his ability to understand their vision and immediately carry it out.

Defender Ben Chilwell, meanwhile, has said Rosenior is going “straight to the top”, adding: “He is the reason I joined the club.”

After watching Rosenior’s hands-on training sessions at Strasbourg, former Manchester United defender Phil Jones told Football Focus: “I was really impressed with the way he spoke with the players, the meetings, the way he sees the game.

“He is passionate and is not afraid to make big decisions.

“They went to Paris St-Germain and went man-to-man all over the pitch and got a result – a 3-3 draw at Parc des Princes. Chelsea fans may want a sexier name, but he has done a good job, and it is an opportunity too good to turn down.”

Former England striker Wayne Rooney, who had Rosenior as his assistant manager at Derby County, described him “as good a coach as I have worked with”.

Before moving into coaching, Rosenior played in both the Premier League and EFL – just as his father Leroy had done.

Both Roseniors had unsuccessful trials at Chelsea but Liam, who was born in Wandsworth, has now signed – becoming the first black British head coach of a club that was plagued by racist incidents until the late 1990s.

“Liam Rosenior is a quality coach who knows the game inside out, and that’s what matters most,” Paul Canoville told BBC Sport.

“But, as Chelsea’s first black player, I would be lying if I said this moment doesn’t move me.

“It is a massive moment for the club, for London, for every young person dreaming big. But right now? Let’s back Liam, give him what he needs, and let the man do his work.”—BBC