Signing of contract until 2032. 106 days later, Liam Rosenior has been sacked. After the 3-0 loss to Brighton, the young Chelsea manager went out for the first time and criticized his own players for their efforts. When two of the key players in the young squad go out and tell the world how much they miss the former Chelsea coach, then Rosenior really didn’t stand a chance.
Premier League legend Gary Neville sums up in an interview with Sky Sports, where two Chelsea players in particular are highlighted.
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“The results haven’t been good enough. When the results aren’t good enough, a manager is sacked. But come on, Cucurella and Fernandez – experienced players and probably the only two experienced players Chelsea have – have put him in a difficult situation in recent weeks by pointing out that they basically miss Maresca,” Neville said.
So what did Fernandez and Cucurella say about Maresca – and indirectly what Rosenior didn’t give Chelsea? Here’s a look back:
“I don’t understand it,” Fernandez said of Maresca’s departure. “Sometimes as a player there are things we don’t understand and the way they try to deal with things. I don’t have an answer for you because I don’t know. It’s obviously a departure that hurt a lot, because we had a lot of identity, he gave us order, but that’s how football is. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, but we’ve always had a clear identity in terms of training and games, and it’s clear that his departure hurts us, especially in the middle of the season – it cancels everything,” Fernandes said, according to Goal.
A short time later, Cucurella became the second Chelsea player to support Maresca, saying that the club should have stuck with the Italian.
“We knew what Maresca wanted from us. Winning a title like the Club World Cup also helps, strengthens the bond, and you create good relationships during the celebration,” Cucurella began in an interview with The Athletic.
“When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you would sacrifice yourself for him. The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions made by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make such a change, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full pre-season. The instability around the club comes in a nutshell from this. We had first an interim manager, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is, it came from Cucurella.
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Liam Rosenior never got an opportunity. 106 days after his appointment, Chelsea had lost five games in a row without scoring for the first time in 114 years. When the players are not behind the coach, then the task becomes almost impossible.
