Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior insisted his side had surprised Everton despite losing 3-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Under-fire Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior insisted his beleaguered side controlled the game against Everton and surprised David Moyes’ men despite being thrashed 3-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Rosenior is Chelsea's boss 18th boss since 2000 after penning a bumper six-and-a-half year contract when appointed in January.
The Stamford Bridge side haven't had a manager last that long since Ted Drake (1952-61) and pressure is growing, externally least, on the 41-year-old, who made his bizarre claim in his post-match press conference after suffering a fourth consecutive defeat.
Rosenior said: “When you watch the (first) goal back, it’s not a tactical thing. We didn’t go man for man today.
“We played 4-4-2, which I thought was actually very good. We controlled their possession and they didn’t expect it, they ended up kicking the ball back to us a lot of the time and then we gained control of the game. Then, it’s a moment of switching off.
“I want to protect my players always. I always will and I take responsibility for that lapse in concentration but that’s what it is. That’s happened too many times in my time recently for me not to tell the truth as it is.”
Rosenior added: “It was the most disappointing evening so far. In terms of the things we spoke about, not gifting goals away and making sure we’re in the game and getting control of the game, it wasn’t there.
“It turned into a really difficult evening where the result and performance was nowhere near what we expected or wanted.
“We had an edgy start in terms of the cheap giveaways but then we managed to gain control of the game. We were in their half, arriving and creating moments which we didn’t take, we weren’t clinical enough.
“Out of nowhere – it feels like out of nowhere – they score. It’s not the first time that’s happened.
“What happens in football, if you are in a difficult run of games against big teams, your energy levels and your confidence levels can drop if the other team score first. That’s what happened.
“(Jordan) Pickford makes a world-class save at 1-0. We come out in the second half and have control of the game then make a mistake and they’re 2-0 up and that gives them even more energy. It’s about flow and momentum and we didn’t have that in the game today.”
Chelsea brought on Alejandro Garnacho for Malo Gusto at the start of the second half but rather than get back into the contest, they went further behind.
Trying to explain the switch, the Wandsworth-born gaffer whose previous post in English football ended with him being sacked by Hull City said: “I felt we had so much control, without the cutting edge. We had our chances and Pickford made an unbelievable save and we were getting into the final third more and more.
“We wanted to make a positive change at half-time and get an extra winger on the pitch and Moises did that job very, very well against Everton and against Ndiaye before at right-back.
“We try and make positive changes to influence the game and I felt that change, up until the second goal, when you watch the game back, I’ve watched it once live, we arrived in their final third time and time and time again without that clinical moment. Then we make a mistake for the second goal.
“I know when you look at a team that are 3-0 down, you are trying to press and get your way back into the game. It looks like the distances become really, really big.
“For me, I don’t think there’s a lack of effort, I don’t think there’s a lack of belief or determination in the team. In fact, I think Enzo (Fernandez, Chelsea’s captain) kept going until the very, very last minute today.
“I’m aware when you’re on a run of defeats that we’re on and the run of performances that we’ve had, those things get levelled at you. But I don’t think that’s the issue in this moment.
“I think if you keep arriving and creating, in the moments that you do, you take them. For me, statistically, if you go through each game, it’s not for a lack of shots, it’s not for a lack of final third entries and that’s where we need to be more clinical and it’s something we need to work on.”
Figures from the game showed that Everton outran their opponents but Rosenior dismissed suggestions that his side might be suffering a hangover from winning the FIFA Club World Cup last summer under his predecessor Enzo Maresca.
He said: “I think through the season, if you look at the stats before me, they’re very similar. What I don’t want to be seen to do is make excuses, that was not good enough, the last week has not been good enough.
“I think if you’re a logical, thinking person, and you look at the workload and the amount of games the players have played, I think it’s a pretty simple conclusion to come to. Why I think the international break has come at a good time for us is because hopefully those players get a change because most of them have to fly across the world and play for their countries.
“That’s maybe a reset. Maybe some time away to gather their thoughts and have a different environment before coming back may refresh the group.”
After the final whistle, Rosenior went over to the far north east corner of Hill Dickinson Stadium to applaud the few Chelsea fans that had remained until the end.
Asked about his gesture, he said: “They pay their money, they love this club and they’ve come a long way. It’s a disappointing time for the club at the moment in terms of the way we lost in the Champions League and the way we’ve lost the last two games.
“My job it hurts, regardless of your position, it hurts to lose games of football. In terms of moving forward and looking at the bigger picture, we’re one point away from the Champions League position.
“We need to keep working in this way. We need to keep giving the players as much confidence as possible and hopefully this break of games for us comes at a really, really good moment.”