{"id":389570,"date":"2026-01-05T18:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389570\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T18:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:06:08","slug":"much-more-to-next-chelsea-manager-liam-rosenior-than-you-might-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389570\/","title":{"rendered":"Much More to Next Chelsea Manager Liam Rosenior Than You Might Think"},"content":{"rendered":"

A club increasingly depicted as a soulless business operation are currently seeking to appoint as manager a soulful man admired for his warmth and emotional intelligence. Liam Rosenior to Chelsea seems a risk<\/a>, a contrast of personalities, a relationship doomed to failure in many eyes. <\/p>\n

But anyone who knows Rosenior knows he relishes a challenge, gets on with people from dressing room to boardroom and that he has been craving this chance to work in the Champions League<\/a>. The inexperienced Rosenior, 41, will give everything to make this work. <\/p>\n

The young Strasbourg coach has been waiting for this moment<\/a> ever since he was 11 and doing scouting reports for his father, Leroy, at Gloucester City. He\u2019s been waiting for this moment ever since he was a player, and would stand at the edge of the tunnel when injured or suspended, simply to get a manager\u2019s perspective of a game. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s been waiting for this moment ever since playing under Chris Coleman, Steve Coppell, Brendan Rodgers, Steve Bruce and Chris Hughton, and learning from them. He\u2019s been waiting for this elite-level opportunity ever since getting his UEFA Pro Licence aged 32 while still playing for Brighton & Hove Albion<\/a>. <\/p>\n

FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Rosenior (left) learnt his trade under managers such as Wayne Rooney while at Derby County. \/ Jon Hobley\/MI News\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Every time I have spoken to Rosenior on his coaching journey his desire to make it as a first-team coach was abundantly clear. I talked to him in 2018 at Brighton where he was assistant coach for the U-23s, then specialist first-team coach to Phillip Cocu at Derby County in 2019, and when he was assistant to Wayne Rooney at Derby in 2021. All the time he was looking and learning.<\/p>\n

Eager to develop, Rosenior studied Rooney closely. Rooney was in the canteen at Derby\u2019s training ground one morning, and mentioned to Rosenior that one particular player was not eating his breakfast cereal with his usual gusto. Rooney had a quiet word, and discovered the player was distracted by a domestic issue. Rosenior absorbed another lesson in the art of handling players. <\/p>\n

\u201cTop coaches have to have empathy,\u201d Rosenior told me once. \u201cYes, you can be tough, but you have to understand people. You can’t shout at players like you used to.\u201d His measured stance was appreciated as a pundit on Sky Sports programmes, especially \u201cThe Debate.\u201d He became a respected pundit because he spoke fluidly, calmly and insightfully. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s a very popular figure in football. People instinctively warm to him. He’s enthusiastic, optimistic and thoughtful. Managers like him. Sir Gareth Southgate, during his time in charge of England<\/a>, gave Rosenior four hours of his time in his office at St George\u2019s Park. They conversed in depth about football but also more broadly about life. There is plenty of hinterland to Rosenior.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Pep Guardiola trusted Rosenior (right) with Man City talent (and now Chelsea striker) Liam Delap (left) at Hull City. \/ Muhammed Enes Yildirim\/Anadolu Agency\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

When he was appointed manager of Hull City later in 2022, it became very clear how other managers trusted him. Pep Guardiola sent him Liam Delap on loan. J\u00fcrgen Klopp loaned him Tyler Morton and Fabio Carvalho. Guardiola and Klopp knew their youngsters would develop under Rosenior. <\/p>\n

He encouraged a team ethos by showing his Hull players a video of his assistant, Justin Walker, towing him out of a flooded road puddle when Rosenior\u2019s car got stuck. \u201cLife isn’t perfect but your mate needs to have your back,\u201d Rosenior told his players. \u201cThe first person I called was my best friend Justin.\u201d <\/p>\n

He studied Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton. He loved how De Zerbi\u2019s Brighton went man for man with Guardiola\u2019s Manchester City<\/a>. He followed De Zerbi\u2019s risk-taking example and went man for man against Enzo Maresca\u2019s Leicester City at King Power Stadium in September 2023. Delap scored to end Leicester\u2019s perfect start to the Championship season.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Rosenior (right) had success with risk-taking tactics against departed Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca at Hull and Leicester respectively. \/ Isabella Bonotto\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rosenior\u2019s players pressed Maresca\u2019s relentlessly and successfully. Hull stuck to their young coach\u2019s bold game plan and were rewarded. \u201cI\u2019ve been here for eight months and we wouldn’t have been capable of doing that when I first came in,\u201d Rosenior told BBC Radio Humberside afterwards. \u201cThat’s why I keep saying it’s a process.\u201d <\/p>\n

That comment is worth bearing in mind as he goes into Chelsea. There will be a process, namely drilling his players into his high-pressing way. They will need to be very fit and very committed. How long Chelsea fans give \u201cthe process\u201d remains to be seen. They were growing fed up with Maresca, and demanded more entertainment, but also directed their anger at the owners and sporting directors.<\/p>\n

Some will see Rosenior as a \u201cyes man\u201d appointment drafted in by Chelsea\u2019s owners, BlueCo, who also own Strasbourg, when he\u2019s far from that. But Rosenior will still have to work within a structure\u2014and with recruitment strictures such as with young players to be traded eventually. <\/p>\n

\"Reece<\/p>\n

Rosenior will need the Chelsea players to buy into his methods early if he’s to be a success at Stamford Bridge. \/ Isabella Bonotto\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

It is key for Rosenior\u2019s success, or chance to implement his process, that players respond quickly and positively to him. There will be the inevitable \u201cput your medals on the table\u201d moment. That won\u2019t take long as Rosenior won only the Football League Trophy with Bristol City in 2003. But he can point to largely edging a duel with Cristiano Ronaldo when Fulham drew with Manchester United<\/a> at Craven Cottage in 2004. Rosenior loves a challenge. <\/p>\n

History shows that players want to play for him. They like his personality and philosophy. He told his Hull players, \u201cGive 100% in and out of possession, love and respect your teammates and don\u2019t hide from the ball. You have to be brave.\u201d Players respect that he\u2019s brave. <\/p>\n

He stands up against intolerance. When he was racially abused by an opponent as a teenaged full-back, Rosenior responded by tearing two-footed into his abuser. At a young age, visiting his grandmother in Hull, he looked round the Wilberforce House, dedicated to social reformer William Wilberforce and his successful fight to abolish the slave trade in 1807. <\/p>\n

Continuing the campaigning ethos of his father, Rosenior regularly speaks out against racism. He himself was racially abused online in 2024. Players respect how he stands up against discrimination. <\/p>\n

Players want to play for him. Jaden Philogene left Aston Villa for Hull knowing that Rosenior would improve him. Rosenior made the effort to see Philogene and the loanees in advance, building a connection. He treats them as human beings. <\/p>\n

Eight years ago, Liam Rosenior had strong words on Chelsea\u2019s managerial churn. pic.twitter.com\/iMeVpL29Gv<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Jacob Greaves matured so impressively under Rosenior that he was named in the Championship Team of the Season in 2024. Rosenior himself was nominated for Championship Manager of the Season. He was sacked by Hull for narrowly failing to finish in the playoffs, a decision that caused outrage. No allowance was made for the goalscoring Delap missing three months injured. Rosenior\u2019s successor, Tim Walter, was hopeless and lasted only 18 games. <\/p>\n

Within two months, Rosenior was appointed Strasbourg\u2019s manager, qualified them for the UEFA Conference League and had interest from Premier League clubs. Now Chelsea\u2019s owners, BlueCo, see him as the man to succeed Maresca. <\/p>\n

Rosenior has plenty of work to do at Chelsea<\/a>, and plenty of convincing. He will give everything to make it work. \u201cI\u2019m a giver,\u201d Rosenior told me in 2022. \u201cI like seeing people achieve. I like helping them.\u201d And they need help. And so will he.<\/p>\n

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