Liam Rosenior has already explained what Chelsea needs to do to be successful amid speculation around the current Strasbourg head coach replacing Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
The club confirmed on Thursday that Maresca had left the club just two days after the 2-2 draw with AFC Bournemouth. Maresca guided the club to the Club World Cup and Conference League in his first season, while also guiding the Blues back into the Champions League.
Rosenior has emerged as a candidate to replace the Italian due to his work at Strasbourg, which is also owned by the BlueCo ownership. understands that the 41-year-old has impressed the hierarchy in west London during his time in France.
Last season, the former Hull City boss led Strasbourg to the Conference League with the help of exciting young players. Rosenior has often recorded big wins over Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, and Marseille.
It’s unclear whether he will be appointed as the permanent successor to Maresca. However, if he is, Rosenior has already given his view on Chelsea’s previous dealings with managers and what they need to succeed at the club.
Speaking on ‘The Debate’ on Sky Sports in 2019, Rosenior explained that managers should be given time to implement their ideas and that sacking them constantly isn’t the right thing to do. “We talk about Antonio Conte’s frustration in terms of the transfer window and bringing the players he wants to fit into how he wants to play,” he said.
“He was so outspoken with his frustration at the time. Now you bring in another manager [Maurizio Sarri], a completely different philosophy. Are you going to back him? Or is it going to be another case of, ‘It’s not working; let’s jump to the next manager’?
“Another manager comes in and wants this player and that player. It’s not going to work that way. There’s going to come a point where you’re going to have to go through some difficult times in order to get long-term success.
“It’s so difficult. The task for the Chelsea board is to say, ‘Is this the guy that we’re going to back for the long term?’ Being backed by the board isn’t just about the transfer budget.
“The recent history of the club is that if things go wrong and not how we want, we change the manager. That automatically puts pressure on Sarri. For me, there comes a point where you say, ‘That’s our manager for the next two years; the reason we appointed him is to build something. ‘
“At the moment, Chelsea are behind Manchester City and Liverpool. So what do you expect them to do?”
Rosenior’s comments came at the time when Roman Abramovich was the owner of the football club. The Russian billionaire sold the club to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital in May 2022 for £4.25 billion, but the trend of changing managers hasn’t stopped.
Thomas Tuchel was in charge when the takeover occurred before he was sacked early in the 2022/23 season. Graham Potter lasted less than seven months in charge before Frank Lampard came in on an interim basis.
Mauricio Pochettino left Chelsea after just one season; before Maresca’s year-and-a-half in charge, it was the longest stint under the current ownership.
