Chelsea will begin the post-Liam Rosenior era with an FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United. They come into the game on the back of seven consecutive defeats when facing top division opponents. Can they stop that run at Wembley? Or will we see more of the same even after the sacking of the English manager?
Calum McFarlane will be taking interim charge of the team until the end of the season. Of course, this is not an unfamiliar role for him. He had managed Chelsea for two games during the transition between Enzo Maresca and Rosenior earlier this year.
They managed to get an away draw against Manchester City under McFarlane’s watch during that run. But it was followed by a defeat to Fulham. So, it remains to be seen how the team will look this weekend.
The dust is yet to completely settle on Rosenior’s time at the club either. But one lingering rumour has been rubbished by McFarlane about the manager.
Calum McFarlane rubbishes rumour about Rosenior
Some outlets had reported that Rosenior had decided not to even address the players following the game against Brighton and left. As it turns out, that was not the case.
According to The Standard, McFarlane said about the matter:
“He did address the players, as he does with every game, and gave his thoughts on the performance and what needs to be done moving forward.
“So, yes, those reports aren’t true, like a lot of reports.”
Rosenior might have still been hoping to remain in the job at that point. In the post-match interview, he had talked about making changes to his team for the semi-final against Leeds United. Then again, open criticism of the players did suggest that the Englishman might have suspected that the sack was not far away.
Chelsea need to move on from failed Rosenior appointment
Unfortunately, Rosenior will go down as one of the worst managers in Chelsea history. He was a likeable guy but was not cut out for the job. BlueCo might have promoted him too early from Strasbourg, where he had been doing well.
Rosenior guided Chelsea to their worst run of form since 1912 and was sacked after just 107 days in the job. In the process, Champions League qualification became pretty much an impossibility and it remains to be seen what kind of long-term implications that might have.
It is time to move on though. What is done is done. Chelsea will have a new permanent manager in the summer. But until then, they need to focus on the task at hand under McFarlane. For now, that is somehow finding a way into the FA Cup final, where Manchester City await them.
