Is Liam Rosenior under any pressure at Chelsea – and should he be?

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Rosenior has been in charge for three months, but that will not stop speculation over his future should the negative momentum continue. Multiple sources, speaking, like others in this piece, under the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, have said that Chelsea intend to keep head coach Rosenior even if they fail to secure the top-five finish required to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Rosenior has also revealed he has been involved in the club’s discussions about plans for the next campaign, hardly a sign he is expecting to pack his bags. There is still a good opportunity to make this season a success — Chelsea are four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool in the Premier League and could win the FA Cup for the first time since 2018. They face Leeds United in the semi-final on April 26. But Chelsea are also just three points above 11th-placed Bournemouth, meaning clubs are queuing up to overtake them. Rosenior was not hired to turn Chelsea into a mid-table also-ran. As for their FA Cup hopes, Chelsea did not beat Leeds home or away in the league this season (a 3-1 loss and 2-2 draw). Even if they get the better of them at Wembley, Rosenior’s side are likely to face Manchester City, a team that humbled them 3-0 on Sunday, in the FA Cup final. Should Chelsea miss out on both remaining targets, will it lead to a change of heart over Rosenior staying at Chelsea? The Athletic’s Chelsea correspondents Simon Johnson, Liam Twomey and Cerys Jones discuss some of the factors involved and whether the head coach has anything to worry about. Taking over mid-season is never an easy task, partially because there is little time to introduce your ideas to players on the training ground. Rosenior’s reign began with a run of 11 games in the space of 35 days. After you factor in light recovery sessions after matches and days off, not much room is left. Despite this, Chelsea won eight and only lost twice. Chelsea have won three times since then, and two of those were against lower-league opposition in the FA Cup (Wrexham and Port Vale). Rosenior had two clear midweeks in late February and again ahead of the Manchester City match on Sunday to work on his tactics. The return from the three league games that followed — Burnley, Arsenal and Manchester City? One point. Perhaps most alarmingly, the standard of performance has plummeted. They have lost three consecutive league games without scoring a goal for the first time in 28 years. Rosenior should benefit from a pre-season, though this will be hindered by the World Cup, which will leave many players absent for a large chunk of the summer. Tottenham Hotspur have had three managers since Chelsea’s last clean sheet in the Premier League. Since beating Brentford 2-0 on January 17, their only shutout in any competition has come against Port Vale — and given the League One side have failed to score in 22 of their 48 games this season, that cannot be considered a great accomplishment. In 19 league games under Maresca this season, Chelsea conceded 21 goals; in 11 under Rosenior, they are only four shy of that. Few of these have been especially outstanding goals from the opposition. Chelsea keep conceding cheaply by being outmuscled on set plays and counter-attacks, or simply losing focus — and their defensive resolve is flimsy. As Rosenior said after the loss to Manchester City, a worrying pattern is emerging where one goal is swiftly followed by another, and Chelsea allow games to slip out of reach. Forget social media — no one can accuse match-going supporters of not wanting to give Rosenior a chance. Shouts of “Liam, Liam” regularly greeted him early on as he went over to acknowledge them after the final whistle. Obviously, getting good results helped. That all seems a distant memory, although it has not turned too ugly compared to his immediate predecessors. For example, former head coach Mauricio Pochettino was serenaded with “f*** off Mauricio” in a match at Brentford in 2024. Last April, Enzo Maresca had “w*****” sung at him and was booed as he walked across the pitch at Fulham. Graham Potter received death threats in 2023. There have been growing signs of frustration towards Rosenior lately, though. The Chelsea contingent made their anger towards Rosenior, as well as the players, clear when they walked over to them following the 3-0 defeat at Everton. Abuse aimed at Rosenior in the dugout can be heard at Stamford Bridge. Perhaps the most damning sight is the number of fans leaving games early. But Pochettino and Maresca turned their unpopularity around with a strong end to the season. Rosenior can do the same. Manchester United fans will be well aware of the Ten Hag Trap: keeping and doubling down on a coach who most supporters and outside observers have concluded is not up to the job, only to belatedly accept reality and part ways with him a few months into a new season. Erik ten Hag managed to extend his Old Trafford tenure — and earn a lucrative new contract — by salvaging a poor season with an unexpected FA Cup triumph. Rosenior could yet do the same, but Chelsea must keep their eyes on the big picture when deciding his future. Have performances under him given legitimate cause to expect improved results in the future? Can he regain credibility in the eyes of supporters? Most importantly, does he command the respect and belief of his players? If the answer to any of these questions is no, Chelsea may be simply compounding an error by keeping Rosenior — particularly if they allow his preferences to influence their recruitment. United spent a huge amount on Ten Hag transfer targets in the summer of 2024, only to sack him in October. The timing of their coaching epiphany also arguably doomed successor Ruben Amorim on arrival, tasking him with imposing a brand-new system on an ill-suited squad with no pre-season training time. The result was a lost campaign. Whatever their decision on Rosenior, Chelsea cannot afford another of those. Given that Maresca’s departure was triggered mostly by events off the pitch, it is easy in rose-tinted hindsight to forget how much Chelsea were struggling on it. In Maresca’s final seven Premier League games, their only win came against Everton at home. Having ended November in third place, only six points from the top, Chelsea had dropped to fifth (level on points with Manchester United behind them) by Maresca’s departure on New Year’s Day — firmly setting their second half of the season up as a chase for Champions League qualification, rather than any hopes harboured earlier in the season of playing a part in the title race. The issues were primarily the same ones that have undermined Chelsea under Rosenior. After the defeat to Aston Villa that turned out to be his penultimate game in charge, Maresca lamented Chelsea’s poor game management after conceding; Rosenior had the same complaint after losing to Manchester City. The sloppiness at the back that handed City their first and third goals will be familiar from Chelsea’s trips to Newcastle United, Leeds United, or Atalanta under Maresca. Rosenior has not solved these problems, but he did not create them. Chelsea’s expensive, youthful squad proved perfectly capable of delivering Champions League qualification through the Premier League and Conference League glory last season. It was also aptly equipped to navigate a Conference League-level group stage in the Club World Cup, followed by a favourable run to the final against Paris Saint-Germain. Rotation was low-risk for Maresca, and Chelsea’s squad players were kept involved, in rhythm and platformed at a level that allowed them to shine. The idea that would continue to be the case with a Premier League/Champions League schedule in 2025-26 has been exposed as wildly optimistic; only the FA Cup has provided semi-regular respite from a steady stream of domestic and European opponents entirely capable of punishing mistakes. Chelsea’s squad required meaningful reinforcement last summer to meet the jump in standard, but with the exceptions of the exceptional Joao Pedro and the return of Andrey Santos from loan at Strasbourg, it did not arrive. Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens have not improved the left flank. Liam Delap has been a meaningful downgrade on Nicolas Jackson. Estevao has flashed prodigious quality, but was always going to face adaptive challenges in his first season in English football. Injuries have prevented Dario Essugo from establishing himself as Moises Caicedo’s understudy, and Jorrel Hato’s development has been a predictably slow burn. Chelsea got younger rather than better, and the Premier League and Champions League present football’s two steepest learning curves. No wonder the message coming from people with an understanding of Chelsea’s plans, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, say there is a focus on greater emotional resilience, maturity and players who can make an impact from the start. Internally, Chelsea ruled it out as a factor earlier in the season, but participating in the Club World Cup has surely had an impact. This is not, according to people with knowledge of their outlook, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, a majority view at Chelsea. The club’s 2024-25 campaign, which involved 64 fixtures, extended into mid-July. Players needed holidays afterwards, which meant pre-season preparations lasted less than two weeks. Rosenior spoke recently about his players playing ‘over 100 games in 18 months’ and that ‘they’ve had no break’. The majority of the squad play international football too. As explained in October, one of the main reasons for Chelsea’s rotation policy was the belief that the team would be fresh for the run-in and finish the season strongly. This has yet to materialise. Not having their best centre-back, Levi Colwill, all season due to a knee injury has not helped. Cole Palmer has not been at his best after a groin problem suffered in September. Essugo was bought to ease the burden on Caicedo, but has featured in three senior games due to injury. Delap has struggled since a bad hamstring strain in August. There are many other examples, too. However, there will be little sympathy outside of Stamford Bridge, given the fortune they have spent on the squad. Rosenior is the fourth permanent head coach appointment in less than four years under owner BlueCo. Like predecessor Maresca, he was handed a contract longer than five years — a crystal clear signal that the decision-makers want someone to lead this project from the dugout for the long term. Sacking him after a matter of months would create unwelcome echoes of the brief, miserable Graham Potter era. Between those two, Pochettino and Maresca both publicly chafed against the unique leadership structure at Stamford Bridge before their exits. Cutting short Rosenior’s tenure would only reinforce the impression that the only coaches happy to work at this version of Chelsea are not good enough to meet the club’s on-pitch expectations. With every new coaching change, the sense of dysfunction grows — for fans, for players, and for potential signings. That only makes it harder for any coach, whether Rosenior or someone else, to change the team’s trajectory. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms