Liam Rosenior will have been delighted to avoid an early exit from The FA Cup. Almost, a harder game to take charge of as a first outing, given the repercussions of a defeat would be much greater.
Had Rosenior taken charge against Man City like Enzo Maresca did in his first match, defeat would have been understandable. Instead, Calum McFarlane helped Chelsea get a draw before Rosenior joined.
But to lose his first game against a struggling Championship side would have been a massive blow and might have even been hard to come back from. Instead, Rosenior masterminded a comfortable 5-1 win.
The rise in intensity in Rosenior’s first training sessions has been noticed, and that was clear to see on the pitch last night. A top start for Rosenior, inadvertently breaking a record that was held by Antonio Conte.
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Antonio Conte was the last manager to win his first Chelsea game
The now-Napoli manager was appointed Chelsea boss in the summer of 2016, and his first game was also a London derby, as Rosenior had. Chelsea played host to West Ham at Stamford Bridge in the league.
An injury-time winner from Diego Costa secured a 2-1 win for Conte and Chelsea back in August 2016, after West Ham defender James Collins had cancelled out Eden Hazard’s opener just after half-time.
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Conte would go on to win his first four games, winning the Premier League that season and the FA Cup the season after. But he was the last Chelsea manager to win his first game after being appointed.
Of course, until Rosenior watched Jorrel Hato, Tosin Adarabioyo and Marc Guiu get their names on the score sheet before substitutes Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez rounded off a comfortable 5-1 win.
The nine managers to lose their first Chelsea matches
Since Conte’s exit in 2018, Chelsea have had Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca as official managers. Three interim spells as manager, too.
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Lampard took charge as interim boss a few years after his initial spell, while Bruno Saltor was manager for four days after Potter’s sacking. Then, of course, before Rosenior, McFarlane took charge of two matches.
Sarri lost in the Community Shield to Man City, Lampard lost 4-0 to Man United in his first spell, Tuchel drew 0-0 with Wolves, Potter failed to beat Salzburg in September 2022 and Bruno drew with Liverpool.
A dismal 1-0 loss to Wolves came in Lampard’s second start, this time as interim boss. Pochettino drew with Liverpool, while Maresca lost to City. McFarlane went one better, drawing with Pep Guardiola’s side.
So, Rosenior is the first Chelsea manager after the previous nine bosses to have won his first match in charge, the first since Conte. Now, he is tasked with making it two from two, against Chelsea next week.
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