The club are in a decent position but there is dissatisfaction with the ownership and the new head coach must not get caught in the crossfire
The way Chelsea are run will come as no surprise to Liam Rosenior. He has longstanding relationships with three of the five sporting directors and will know from his time at Strasbourg, who are part of the same ownership, that the head coach’s best chance of surviving is not to make the mistake of rebelling against the structure.
Rosenior will have to show more political savvy than Enzo Maresca, who talked himself out of the job last week. Yet given the 41-year-old is familiar with the working conditions at BlueCo, the investment vehicle that owns Chelsea and Strasbourg, his biggest challenge is unlikely to be managing upwards. Rosenior will know where to train his focus and not to rock the boat. Crucially, he does not inherit a team in crisis. Chelsea are fifth and earned a creditable draw at Manchester City on Sunday; despite the rancour of Maresca’s final days, this is not a situation that calls for a major rebuild.
It will be more about minor adjustments for Rosenior. He needs to rouse Cole Palmer, whose season has been disrupted by a groin injury, and work out how to eradicate Chelsea’s habit of throwing away leads, particularly at home. Better discipline will help. Rosenior will surely not like that his young side are bottom of the fair play table after picking up 43 yellow cards and four reds in 20 league games.
