Liam Rosenior unique interview: Chelsea head coach on feeling “at home” regardless of dwelling in a resort

In distinction to the drama that surrounded Chelsea’s appointment of Liam Rosenior as head coach, two weeks on there’s a relative calm across the place.

Not that Rosenior hasn’t already skilled and packed in rather a lot – 4 video games in 4 competitions with all that entails, together with a monumental variety of media commitments, and positively not sufficient time on the coaching pitch, he says.

He isn’t eager on reflecting or assessing occasions at Chelsea to date, preferring to stay within the second however does admit he is “happy with the start” and provides “it could have been worse!”

“Six out of 10? Seven out of 10?” I ask him in our unique chat forward of Chelsea’s journey to Crystal Palace, stay on Sky Sports activities this Sunday.

“If you say six, I’ll take six,” was his response.

Which appears honest – stable if not spectacular and the one sport Chelsea misplaced was within the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg towards Arsenal which his facet can have an opportunity to overturn in a couple of weeks’ time.

Rosenior did marvel what the response to his arrival from his new gamers could be.

Sunday twenty fifth January 12:30pm


Kick off 2:00pm

Chelsea can boast some world-class stars who’ve received on the highest stage however the “lack of ego in the group” he says means regardless of dwelling in a resort – no time to accommodate hunt but – and attending to know the Uber Eats menu a bit of too nicely, he already feels at dwelling.

He mentioned: “Managers came in when I was a player and you’re judging straight away. What they say, their mannerisms, is he nervous, who is he talking to, am I going to be in a team, did he work with this player before, is he a favourite? All of these things happen in the first week, you’re being judged by your players all the time.”

So who have been these managers that left a long-lasting impression?

He mentioned: “I remember at Reading and Brendan Rodgers’ first meeting, he had a list of things that he wanted to work on and where he wanted us to get to and that really impressed me in terms of how he delivered that.

“You’re judged in each second, and folks might say I am overconfident or underconfident or am I genuine, am I not?

“The biggest judge is the view of your players and so far I think their reactions in terms of energy, intensity, reactions to losing the ball, human values, they’ve been all the things I’ve asked for.”

He additionally remembers experiences from his time at Fulham early in his profession which have served him nicely.

He mentioned: “I was a young player, just joined Fulham, and the most humble, down-to-earth player was Edwin van der Sar, who actually happened at the time to be the best goalkeeper in the world. I’m finding the same here. The better the players, the more they want to learn, the more down-to-earth they are. Their image is different to who they are and I want to get to know who they are, to bring the best out of them. They want to do so well for each other and my job is to just try to enhance that.”

The present squad have had a number of new beginnings. Rosenior is the fifth everlasting one underneath this possession, so what kind of coach are they getting and would a youthful Rosenior prefer to play for him?

“For me, I am myself. I’m not afraid to make a fool of myself at times. I’m not afraid to have a laugh with the players. I’m also not afraid to demand, to shout at them when it’s needed or to raise my tone. I’ve lost my voice a few times already in the last few days.”

I cheekily make the purpose it’s quieter at Chelsea nowadays and there may be the briefest of smiles earlier than a return to the cool demeaner as he replies: “That will change hopefully. Our fans have been great home and away. I understand they’re questioning a lot of things at the moment. I understand everything and it’s normal because this is such a high-achieving football club. I’m very confident in time with what I’ve seen that we can be really successful.”

Understanding what he wished to do from a younger age led Rosenior to check each coach and supervisor who crossed his path, together with for a few years his dad Leroy. For all of the good ones, and sure that features his dad, Rosenior admits he learnt simply as a lot from those that weren’t so incredible.

He mentioned: “I always felt when a team felt like the leader cared about them, not just on the pitch, but off the pitch as well, that’s when a team performed best. I want to create a team that look like I had at Strasbourg. I know it’s not the same level, at Hull and even at Derby through administration, if you watch those teams, they all ran for each other.

“All of them seemed like they loved what they did and I need that right here.”

Creating a culture takes time which is a raw commodity among Chelsea head coaches but he seems to be making the most of every minute with his players.

He said: “A couple of of them have joked that they’ve by no means spoken to a supervisor a lot in a brief house of time. They’re most likely sick of me already. That is my method of managing, that will not change nevertheless it doesn’t suggest that I am their finest buddy.”

Chelsea fans will be hoping that approach will help reignite Cole Palmer.

Since his arrival from Manchester City in 2023 he has taken the Premier League by storm at times – simply sensational.

This season, after an impressive Club World Cup where he was named the best player, he has struggled with injury managing only 13 games, five goals and completed just four full games.

More than that, anyone who watched him score in Chelsea’s recent win over Brentford, the body language was off and the trademark goal celebration nowhere to be seen. That was before reports in the newspapers linking Palmer to a move to Manchester United, the club he supported growing up.

Rosenior had already spent a large part of the news conference explaining how his superstar Palmer was, despite the rumours, happy at Chelsea but conceded it has been a tough few months.

It’s not the first time the forward has been linked with a move away but Rosenior is insistent Palmer is here to stay and that the best is yet to come.

He said: “Cole’s a fantastic lad. So down-to-earth, has a extremely good household round him, nice set of values, likes to work and likes to play soccer. My job as a coach is to win video games, to maximise the potential of the gamers. They maximise their potential, you find yourself successful video games. So not simply Cole, however each member of the squad will perceive in a short time that they are vital to me.

“Not just how they perform on the pitch, not just how they’ve trained or how they’ve played, that they’re happy in their lives. It’s the best job in the world. I’m too old to play football. I didn’t enjoy it enough and I actually found when I enjoyed playing football was when I was at my best. So it’s not about being their best friend or arm around the shoulder it’s about being able to get to know someone to a point where you can push them further than what they are probably used to. So for Cole, for all the players, it’s the same.”

The boldness of the squad who went into final weekend’s sport with Brentford with one Premier League win in 9 is starting to return. Rosenior has although, after a troublesome Champions League sport with Pafos in midweek, reminded his facet together with a few of these huge stars, that not so way back they have been lifting the Membership World Cup and the Convention League.

He believes his facet usually are not far-off particularly in a league that’s proving very open this season. The following problem for Rosenior and his facet is addressing their kind away from Stamford Bridge. Their final league victory on the street got here towards Burnley on November 22 and if Champions League is the ambition this season that must be rectified.

Beginning on Sunday at Crystal Palace.

Watch Crystal Palace vs Chelsea stay on Sky Sports activities Premier League from 1pm on Sunday; kick-off 2pm