The Chelsea boss reckons only three or four of his team put in any sort of acceptable effort in the defeat at Brighton and that can only mean the impending sack for Rosenior
Liam Rosenior, manager of Chelsea, acknowledges the fans after the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea
Liam Rosenior once again saw his players out-run as they crashed to defeat at Brighton(Image: Getty)
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From a few former team-mates and from people who should know better, there have been some pretty low blows aimed at Liam Rosenior. Ahead of the capitulation at Brighton, Sean Davis - who played with him at Fulham - said Rosenior ‘talks like he has swallowed a dictionary of long words’.
Kevin Kilbane claimed that everything his former Hull City colleague ‘says is waffle, drivel, nothing.’ Some of what is supposed to be informed criticism has come across as mockery. Some of it has not been very pleasant.
He is a relatively young coach trying to make his way in a very tough job. But for Rosenior, with these players, it has already become the impossible job. Because it is not just his former team-mates who are mocking him. His current players are mocking him.
Only they are not mocking him with words, but with effort (lack of), with commitment (lack of), with performances (lack of). That these Chelsea players get out-run in every Premier League match in terms of distance covered tells you all you need to know.
Eleven of the 20 outfield players who started the Brighton-Chelsea game completed a full game. In the list of who ran the least, Chelsea occupied the bottom three positions. No Chelsea player got close to the 13.16 kilometres covered by Pascal Gross.
Liam Rosenior scratches his head in the technical area
Liam Rosenior was scathing of his players after the loss to Brighton(Image: (Photo by Javier Garcia/Shutterstock))
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Rosenior has made many mistakes, that is for sure. The censure and suspension of Enzo Fernandez for what seemed a relatively trivial offence - musing about the idea of living in the great city of Madrid - was most definitely one of them.
His tactical system in the drubbing at Brighton was clearly flawed and the introduction of Alejandro Garnacho for the second half told you a lot about the myriad problems at the club. Everyone in football knew about the attitude issues Garnacho had at Manchester United. It was the talk of the game.
Yet someone at Chelsea still thought it was a good idea to pay £40million for Garnacho. It was a shocking decision but one in keeping with the running of this version of Chelsea Football Club.
Alejandro Garnacho looks down at the ground
Alejandro Garnacho has become a symbol of all that is wrong with this Chelsea squad(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
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But Rosenior needed to put a leader on the park for the second half against Brighton and whatever your opinion of the others on the bench, Garnacho is no leader. That Garnacho is at the club is a reflection of how badly it is being run and the underlying blame for the chaos rests with the ownership and their executives.
But the bottom line is that the display at Brighton had the ominous, unmistakable look of one a group of players give when they have no fear of the manager. If they don’t fancy it, they can have a night off, without a worrying about what’s coming.
As Chris Sutton suggested on television, they can chuck it. He described them as ‘gutless’. And, to be fair, Rosenior himself was not much less critical of his own players.
“The attitude was unacceptable,” he said. “I keep coming out and defending the players but that performance was indefensible.
Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea reacts to the fans
Enzo Fernandez was 'banned' for two matches by Liam Rosenior(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
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“The general attitude, spirit and determination was lacking, apart from maybe three or four of the 11. That is nowhere near enough for this club.”
And that is nowhere near enough for Rosenior to stay in his job. Fundamentally, it is not his fault. It has nothing to do with his phrases, or whatever.
But he will soon be another victim of a place where most managers come to be embarrassed by the players and to collect a pay-off. It is not a question of if but when he goes. And it will be sooner rather than later.
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