By KIERAN GILL, MAIL SPORT REPORTER
Published: 06:36 EST, 7 January 2026 | Updated: 06:36 EST, 7 January 2026
Liam Rosenior is in, Enzo Maresca is out, and there is a Chelsea in-tray which needs working through if their new man is to secure their target of Champions League qualification this season.
Some of their issues are to do with how Rosenior gets them performing on the pitch, and some with how he handles himself off of it.
It is crucial if he is to succeed after walking in with a great deal of scrutiny surrounding his switch from their sister side Strasbourg.
Here, Daily Mail Sport runs through several areas which Rosenior must focus on fixing.
Liam Rosenior needs to set about fixing multiple factors quickly if he is to succeed at Chelsea
Find a way for Chelsea to actually win with the ball
Rosenior walks in with a possession-based philosophy and a desire to control games including with defensive stability, which we are told was a key reason why the Blues chose him.
Five times this season under Maresca, Chelsea have managed 65 per cent possession or higher. They did not win a single one of those games versus beatable sides in Crystal Palace, Leeds, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Brentford.
Indeed, the only two matches they won with more than 58 per cent possession came against Wolves and West Ham – a pair of sides who seem destined to drop down to the Championship.
Instead, Chelsea have been winning more when they have less of the ball. Even their two fewest possessions of the season – 42.7 per cent away at Manchester City and 38.3 per cent at home to Arsenal – felt like victories because of the circumstances surrounding those clashes.
Control of a game is nice, but only if it delivers the goods with it.
Chelsea need to be more effective in the games where they have lots of the ball
Chelsea's record with possession
Games they've had the ball comparatively more:
❌ 71.5% v Crystal Palace – DREW
❌ 71.1% v Leeds – LOST
❌ 68.4% v Sunderland – LOST
❌ 67.2% v Bournemouth – DREW
❌ 65.7% v Brentford – DREW
✅ 64.1% v Wolves – WON
❌ 63% v Aston Villa – LOST
❌ 60.9% v Bournemouth – DREW
❌ 59.5% v Brighton – LOST
✅ 59.2% v West Ham – WON
Games they've had the ball comparatively less:
❌ 58.8% v Man Utd – LOST
✅ 57.7% v Everton – WON
✅ 55.8% v Burnley – WON
✅ 53.8% v Fulham – WON
❌ 53.4% v Newcastle – DREW
✅ 53.2% v Liverpool – WON
✅ 52.1% v Tottenham – WON
✅ 50.3% v Nottm Forest – WON
❌ 42.7% v Man City – DREW
❌ 38.3% v Arsenal – DREW
Stop throwing away lead after lead
‘Charity FC’ is what a few Chelsea fans like to refer to their team, having seen them drop 15 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season. Most of those collapses came at home, at Stamford Bridge, which needs to become a fortress again.
A Premier League home table has them sitting 13th. An away one shows them in the Champions League positions. Sure, the Bridge does not generate the greatest of atmospheres, but as we saw under Jose Mourinho in a previous life, it can be turned into a terrifically tough place to visit.
Rosenior is keen to build a connection with the fanbase, which Maresca struggled to do, along with Mauricio Pochettino before him. Making sure Chelsea stop being so charitable would help.
Chelsea are far too charitable in blowing winning positions, as they did against Aston Villa
Chelsea's record of blowing wins
Brentford (a), September 13 - were 2-1 up, drew 2-2 - dropped two pts
Brighton (h), September 27 - were 1-0 up, lost 3-1 - dropped three pts
Sunderland (h), October 25 - were 1-0 up, lost 2-1 - dropped three pts
Arsenal (h), November 30 - were 1-0 up, drew 1-1 - dropped two pts
Aston VIlla (h), December 27 - were 1-0 up, lost 2-1 - dropped three pts
Bournemouth (h), Deceber 30 - were 2-1 up, drew 2-2 - dropped two pts
Show you can handle yourself off the pitch as well as on it
As anyone who used to listen to his punditry will know, Rosenior is an articulate man, and he can use his media-savviness to make sure his messaging is clear and concise.
At a time when managers are flinging grenades with their words – and paying the price themselves when they then explode, as was the case with Maresca and Ruben Amorim at Manchester United – the way these coaches handle their press conferences is as important as ever.
Given he already knows the BlueCo model inside and out, Rosenior is well placed to speak to its advantages, as he did when he tackled that farewell briefing in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
Enzo Maresca's downfall was being unable to handle relations away from the pitch
Get Cole Palmer looking like the world-beater he is again
Maresca used to tell us that Palmer was his best player. While we saw that in the Club World Cup final versus Paris Saint-Germain, there were many more matches when he did not look like it.
In their Conference League showdown versus Real Betis, Palmer told us afterwards that he was sick of going sideways and backwards and so he went for it, winning Chelsea that game.
Of course, Rosenior will need to listen to Chelsea’s medical advisors. They may tell him on occasion that Palmer cannot handle full 90 after full 90. Rosenior’s willingness to accept that advice was another reason for his appointment, as Maresca was criticised for pushing back on it.
Rosenior will need to get Cole Palmer back to his consistent goalscoring best, but he must also heed the advice of Chelsea's medical team
Their discipline must improve; Liam Delap and Moises Caicedo are among the chief culprits
Stop the silly yellows
Maresca used to insist Chelsea did not have a discipline problem, though it became harder to deny with each passing match. When he was serving his own touchline ban for the visit of Aston Villa, for example, his squad had received 37 yellows over the season – 26 for actual fouls and the other 11 for unnecessary reasons. That did not include the five shown to Maresca himself.
Liam Delap is a regular culprit. There is nothing wrong with being a brute up top, but you have to be clever in how you wind up your opposing defenders. Needless cautions only leave you walking a tightrope. Rosenior knows Delap well, of course, after previously working with him at Hull.
Liam RoseniorChelsea