Liam Rosenior watched his side ease to a 3-1 win over Wolves on Saturday afternoon, with Chelsea rarely getting out of second gear, but it wasn’t all positives for the Chelsea boss.
Two Cole Palmer penalties and a tidy third from the Englishman saw Chelsea pick up all three points and solidify their place in fifth position, opening up a four-point gap before Liverpool take on Man City.
Impressively, it was Rosenior’s fourth Premier League win in four games. The first English manager to do it since Craig Shakespeare did in 2017 at Leicester, and the first Chelsea gaffer to do it since Maurizio Sarri.
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Liam Rosenior on Cole Palmer
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But Rosenior was frustrated at conceding, and Chelsea’s inability to produce a full 90-minute display; he believes it is still lacking in his nine matches as manager. Rosenior also saw a Chelsea player’s attitude.
Alejandro Garnacho wasn’t happy with Chelsea teammate
The desperation for some of these Chelsea players to show why they deserve to be in the starting line-up sometimes boils over. This is a young side, with big egos, all confident they have what it takes to shine.
No better example of that than Alejandro Garnacho. It is fair to say Garnacho is yet to show why Chelsea paid £40m for his services last summer, though there have been glimpses – even since Rosenior arrived.
Chelsea v West Ham United - Premier League
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Garnacho’s combative display against Pafos showed he had been listening to his manager, who wants his Chelsea players to press high and win duels. His brace against Arsenal showed he does have end product.
But Garnacho has struggled too. Poor in Rosenior’s first game and often becoming visibly frustrated, the Argentine was one of three players hooked at half-time in the win over West Ham late last month.
Now, The Mail’s Kieran Gill writes of how Garnacho, having come on as a sub on Saturday, was angry with £25m goalkeeper Robert Sanchez for failing to release the ball and allow Garnacho to counter.
Garnacho needs to start showing he is a team player
There is a sense, with Garnacho, that the player is looking out for himself and not playing as a member of a team. Chelsea needed to kill any momentum Wolves had on Saturday, not feed right into their trap.
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Wolves had scored just before the hour mark, and there was a ferocity among the home support for a few minutes after that. Chelsea needed to calm things down and keep the ball, waste time, manage the game.
Sanchez was doing that. Garnacho was only thinking about trying to get his numbers up. It must still be remembered that Garnacho is young, but this is also a player with huge experience, even if he is still raw.
If he is to get on Rosenior’s good side and start earning a place in the first XI, then he needs to start thinking about what the team needs, not what Garnacho needs. Until then, he will only be a fringe player.
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