Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior is predicted to succeed Enzo Maresca as Chelsea’s subsequent supervisor, with the membership doubtlessly set to announce his rent as quickly as Monday following Maresca’s sudden departure on New 12 months’s Day.
Rosenior arrived in London on Sunday afternoon, in response to ESPN, and can reportedly interview for the job on Monday, per Sky Sports activities. The 41-year-old has been the supposed frontrunner for the job since Maresca exited the membership on Thursday, to the purpose that his future hung over Strasbourg’s 1-1 draw at Good on Saturday like a cloud. He confirmed pre-match that he had been in conversations with Chelsea’s higher-ups and admitted he was unable to ensure that he would keep put in France.
“In life, there are zero ensures,” Rosenior stated, per L’Equipe. “You by no means know what tomorrow will carry. I do my job. There has already been hypothesis. I do not need to assure how lengthy I will be right here, however I get pleasure from being right here every single day. I intend to maintain doing so for so long as I’m right here. I like this membership, however I am unable to assure something. Nobody can.”
Rosenior’s rent has all the time appeared handy for Chelsea as a result of Strasbourg are additionally owned by BlueCo, the consortium arrange in 2022 when the Blues’ new homeowners took over the membership from Roman Abramovich, who was pressured to promote after he was sanctioned by the U.Ok. authorities following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. BlueCo bought shares in Strasbourg a 12 months later, the enterprise of the 2 golf equipment so intertwined that Rosenior felt he had “no management” over his future in his remarks on Friday.
“I’m calm,” he stated. “There’s quite a lot of noise and hypothesis. If we take note of it as a coach, we go loopy.”
Chelsea’s upcoming slate features a Premier League match at Fulham on Wednesday and an FA Cup third spherical tie at Charlton Athletic on Saturday, both of which might function Rosenior’s first match in cost.
The Blues at the moment sit in fifth place by way of 20 video games within the Premier League season and sit three factors outdoors of a UEFA Champions League berth. Rosenior may even inherit a group that’s set to play within the EFL Cup semifinals within the coming weeks and ranks thirteenth within the Champions League with two matches to go within the league section.
An inexperienced however formidable supervisor
Rosignor was an expert participant earlier than he transitioned into teaching, spending 16 years enjoying in England’s high three divisions as a full again. He spent the vast majority of his profession at Hull Metropolis from 2010 to 2015 and was additionally an England youth worldwide earlier than retiring in 2016 following a spell with Brighton and Hove Albion. He stayed at Brighton and labored with the youth groups and later grew to become an assistant at Derby County.
He lastly took cost of a group for the primary time at Derby in 2022, turning into the interim supervisor following Wayne Rooney’s resignation and gained seven of the 12 matches he oversaw for the membership. He left Derby after they employed Paul Warne as Rooney’s full-time successor however landed a brand new job inside weeks, taking up at Hull in November of that 12 months. He was in cost till Might 2024 and posted a 34.62% win proportion after 78 matches, narrowly lacking out on a spot within the promotion playoffs within the 2023-24 season earlier than he was fired.
Once more, Rosenior landed on his toes and was employed by Strasbourg in July of 2024, the place he at the moment boasts a 49.21% win proportion after 63 video games. The French membership completed seventh on the finish of his first season in cost, reserving a spot within the UEFA Convention League within the course of. Strasbourg have maintained a stage of consistency this season and at the moment sit seventh in Ligue 1 with seven wins from 17 matches this season and completed the Convention League’s league section in first place, reserving direct passageway to the spherical of 16.
Although Rosenior has but to interrupt into the elite ranges of the sport, he reportedly turned down gives from Premier League groups final spring earlier than signing a brand new take care of Strasbourg. He has, although, overtly acknowledged his ambition to teach in England’s high flight sooner or later and likewise hopes to guide the nationwide group.
Rosenior’s attack-minded strategy
In an essay he wrote for the Coaches’ Voice in 2024, he described his groups as “dominant, on the entrance foot and scoring targets,” although there may be versatility in his strategy. Rosenior’s Strasbourg are possession-oriented and play in a 3-2-5 after they have the ball whereas switching right into a 4-3-3 when they’re out of possession, although he is versatile when the state of affairs requires it. He recalled an occasion the place he coached towards Maresca’s Leicester Metropolis, opting to ditch possession towards the Championship’s high facet.
“Going into that recreation, our defensive ideas had been a really zonal 4-4-2, however I requested the gamers: ‘Do you need to go man-to-man all around the pitch, with no cowl?’ We had created such a great relationship with them they usually have been so open, they stated: ‘Sure gaffer, let’s have an actual go at it.’ So we went away and coached man-to-man all around the pitch. We knew Enzo was a high supervisor and that Leicester had the perfect gamers within the league. If we allow them to make passes and dictate the sport, we might be completed – so we pressed them and ended up profitable the sport 1-0.”
The model just isn’t inherently dissimilar from Maresca’s, which can make the transition smoother for Rosenior and the Chelsea gamers alike, in addition to the 41-year-old’s curiosity in working with younger gamers. His Strasbourg group has skewed younger and in his first match because the French group’s supervisor, a 1-1 draw at Montpellier, his beginning lineup was the primary in Ligue 1 historical past to be made up completely of gamers below the age of 23. His teaching philosophy may be conducive to working with younger gamers, particularly because it pertains to enjoying on the ball.
“You need to be courageous,” he wrote, describing one of many fundamentals of his strategy. “Do not be afraid to make errors, however if you happen to do make a mistake, go and take the ball once more. Once I was a child who simply liked enjoying soccer, it was as a result of I liked having the ball at my toes. I do not ever need to take that love of the ball away from the gamers I work with. I need my group to have the ball and provoke the sport, however I am unable to coach that if I’m not keen to permit my gamers to make errors.”
