Jamie Carragher has given Chelsea’s new head coach Liam Rosenior a careful but measured review. He wonders if the 41-year-old has the right personality for one of the most difficult managerial jobs in English football. The former Liverpool defender made a clear comparison between Rosenior and Graham Potter, who was fired after just seven months at Stamford Bridge in the 2022/23 season.
On January 6, Rosenior was named Chelsea’s head coach. He is the club’s fifth permanent head coach since 2021, after Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, and Enzo Maresca, who was fired on New Year’s Day. Rosenior’s first game in charge was a 5–1 win for Chelsea over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round. This made him the first Chelsea manager to win his first game since Antonio Conte in 2016.
But Carragher is still firmly on the fence. The Sky Sports expert said that something about Rosenior’s presence at the press conference made him think twice, but he didn’t completely dismiss the new man. Carragher said:
“There is something about Rosenior when you see him in the press conferences. I don’t know if it’s a bit of an act, to sort of play to be the big manager, but if you remember when Graham Potter was there…it never felt like the right fit.
“It never felt like he had the personality or the strength to manage a club like that. I was wondering if it would be almost the same. You know when you just look at someone and it doesn’t look right. Whether it’s an act or it’s his own self belief, it doesn’t feel like I’m looking at this guy who is weak – we don’t know if he’s good enough yet. We’ll see over the years.”
Liam Rosenior is Prepared to be Chelsea Coach
Rosenior comes to Stamford Bridge with a coaching resume that includes time at Derby County, Hull City, and, most recently, Strasbourg, where he managed only 100 games before moving up to one of England’s biggest clubs. In his first season at Strasbourg, he led the Ligue 1 team to a seventh-place finish, which qualified them for the UEFA Conference League. This was the club’s first European football in 19 years.
Rosenior was clear about his readiness, saying before the appointment:
“I would not have taken the Chelsea job if I was not ready,”
Carragher’s doubts are part of a larger skepticism about Chelsea’s hiring practices since BlueCo took over. However, the FA Cup win over Charlton shows that Rosenior is not wasting any time making a case for himself. The big question is whether his confidence will lead to wins at the end of the Premier League season.