Liam Rosenior reportedly maintains the ‘full confidence’ of Chelsea’s hierarchy despite the side’s wretched run of results.
The 41-year-old’s position as manager has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, with the Blues winning just one of their last eight matches in all competitions.
After some early signs of encouragement under Rosenior, Chelsea have dropped to sixth in the Premier League table with the ex-Strasbourg boss at the helm and are at risk of missing out of Champions League qualification for next season.
A pair of heavy defeats to Paris Saint-Germain, either side of a 1-0 loss at home to Newcastle, piled the pressure on Rosenior entering Saturday’s clash with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
But things went from bad to worse for Rosenior as Beto struck twice – the second coming from a woeful Robert Sanchez mistake – to give the Toffees a two-goal advantage with 30 minutes remaining on Merseyside.
Iliman Ndiaye increased the deficit with an emphatic strike beyond Robert Sanchez in the 76th minute and hosts Everton held firm to emerge 3-0 victors and move up to eighth in the English top flight.
The result leaves Chelsea one point behind fourth-placed Liverpool, who also faltered in a 2-1 loss to Brighton in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
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Widespread reports after the side’s Champions League elimination in midweek suggested Rosenior still had the backing of both Chelsea bosses and his first-team squad.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the situation remains the same and there are no plans to part ways with Rosenior at this stage – two months on from his appointment at Stamford Bridge.
‘It’s a difficult moment for Chelsea, four consecutive defeats for the first time since 1993, so a really complicated moment,’ Romano told viewers on his YouTube channel.
‘It feels like a complication situation but again, all the questions I’m getting now on Liam Rosenior I’m still answering now after what I told you already in recent days after the Paris Saint-Germain game… at the moment, I don’t have any message coming from the Chelsea side about any imminent change or any strong decision.’
Rosenior's Premier League record since taking charge of Chelsea
Matches – 10
Won – 5
Drew – 2
Lost – 3
According to Romano, Chelsea’s expectations when they hired Rosenior accounted for the fact that their new manager had taken over the reins without the benefit of a pre-season.
‘Obviously Chelsea can’t be happy with the current situation but they don’t forget that Liam Rosenior arrived in the middle of the season, not having any pre-season,’ he went on.
‘It is not a squad built for Liam Rosenior so obviously there are some points to be considered when it’s time to judge Liam Rosenior.
‘At the same time, Chelsea want to be in the Champions League next season. It’s still a long run, let’s see how this final two months of the season will go.
‘But obviously Chelsea maintain their support in Liam Rosenior. They also spoke in public about that before the Everton game, mentioning meetings, mentioning discussions, mentioning the intention win and be aligned with Chelsea about summer transfer plans.
‘So Rosenior is maintaining the full confidence and, at the moment, that’s the situation with the club.’
Facing the media after his side’s setback at Everton, a visibly frustrated Rosenior admitted he was still ‘learning’ about certain aspects of the job.
‘The most disappointing evening so far in terms of the things we’ve spoken about, not gifting goals away, making sure we’re in the game, getting control of the game,’ he told reporters.
‘It wasn’t there, and it turned into a really, really difficult evening where the result and performance was nowhere near what we expected or wanted.
‘I’m learning about this club. It’s a massive club. There’s been a lot of noise, a lot of negative noise, rightfully so, our performances in the last week.
‘We’ve had ten games in the league together as a group. We’ve got 17 points.
‘I think we’re fourth in my time. So we have to forget the noise. We have to keep our confidence and our composure.’
Rosenior believes repeated lapses in concentration and a wastefulness in front of goal have largely been to blame for Chelsea’s miserable losing streak.
‘I want to protect my players always. I always will. I take responsibility for that lapse in concentration, but that’s what it is,’ he added.
‘That’s happened too many times in my time recently for me not to tell the truth as it is.
‘For me, we arrived into the final third a lot. We had an edgy start in terms of cheap giveaways that we gave away, then we managed to gain control of the game and were in their half, and we were arriving and creating moments which we don’t take.
‘We’re not clinical enough. Then, out of nowhere, it feels like out of nowhere, they score. It’s not the first time that that’s happened.
‘What happens in football, if you are in a run, 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.
‘Then we come out in the second half and have control of the game. Then we make a mistake and they’re 2-0 up. It gives them even more energy. It’s about flow and momentum. We didn’t have that in the game today.’
Things don’t any easier for Chelsea in the Premier League, with Rosenior’s men playing host to Manchester City and Manchester United in their next two top-flight matches.
The Blues are back in FA Cup action after the international break, though, and will be looking to avoid a huge quarter-final upset when they welcome League One outfit Port Vale to Stamford Bridge.
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