Jamie Carragher has been speaking about Liam Rosenior’s first two weeks as Chelsea manager, with the new Blues boss guiding Chelsea to two wins from three games.
A solid 5-1 win over Charlton in the Championship was followed by a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal, in which an Alejandro Garnacho brace kept Chelsea in the tie, eventually losing 3-2.
But Chelsea responded well on Saturday, beating an in-form Brentford 2-0 despite the Bees having plenty of chances to score. Now, Rosenior is preparing his side to do battle in the Champions League next.
Rosenior’s men host Pafos, a game the Blues should be comfortably winning. But Rosenior has had to contend with a virus and injuries since his arrival. The Chelsea Chronicle predicts another five changes.
Which changes would YOU make to face Pafos? 🖋️
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So, three games into Rosenior’s stint, things are looking good. The feel-good factor is back, and Rosenior is doing his utmost to restore calm after the chaos of Enzo Maresca’s exit. Jamie Carragher had his say.
Jamie Carragher in Rosenior and Michael Carrick verdict on MNF
Speaking on Monday Night Football alongside Thierry Henry, Liverpool icon Carragher made a strange point regarding both Chelsea boss Rosenior and Manchester United’s interim manager Michael Carrick.
He said, on Sky Sports, that neither Carrick nor Rosenior have the personality to go and win the Premier League title. Carragher says a manager has to be “special” to win the league, and they simply aren’t.
Chelsea's English head coach Liam Rosenior applauds the fans
Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images
“I don’t believe Manchester United go and win the league with Michael Carrick as the manager or Chelsea go and win the league with Rosenior as a manager. I’m not trying to be disrespectful,” Carragher said.
“I’m only giving my honest opinion of what I feel and their sort of background, experiences, managers, what they’ve done in the past. You’ve got to be special,” the Sky Sports pundit continued in his analysis.
“When you think of the managers who have, there’s something really special about 99% of them, I would say. I just think, probably, Michael Carrick lacks that, and Rosenior lacks that. I might be proven wrong,”
How long would you have offered to Rosenior? 🖋️
Maresca got five and the option for one more, too.
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We won’t see Liam Rosenior’s team until the summer window
Ultimately, Rosenior is putting out fires and will continue to do so until the summer, when he will be given a chance to breathe and time to work with his players – or those who aren’t at the World Cup – in training.
For now, all Rosenior can do is take every game as it comes. Keep speaking as he does in front of the camera, even if Gary Lineker compared him to The Office’s David Brent for his “man, age” comments.
It’s all about taking every game as it comes, at the moment. It is why some clubs prefer not to hire their official manager until the summer, when they have time on the training pitch. Man United, for example.
But for Rosenior and Chelsea, he has made a start as good as he could have hoped for. Hopefully, that continues this week with Pafos on Wednesday night and then a trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday.
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