Chelsea suffered a crushing 1-0 loss to Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge, leaving their hopes of securing UEFA Champions League football next season hanging by a thread.
The listless Blues failed to make any impact and were easily sliced through for Newcastle’s winner.
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Chelsea dismissed Enzo Maresca for Liam Rosenior, but the English tactician has not improved the West Londoners since he arrived at the turn of the year.
They remain the same bundle of inconsistency that they were under the Italian gaffer. Defensive issues continue to plague their game, while their attacking approach has regressed.
Under Rosenior, the FIFA Club World Cup champions have crashed out of the League Cup.
They are on their way out of the Champions League following a heavy round of 16 first-leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
After 17 games, Rosenior has won 10 matches, drawn two, and lost five.
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While that record doesn’t look too bad, it is worth noting that the Blues failed to win their big matches in that run.
At least under Maresca, the team had impetus and was tactically sound. They looked like they had a cohesive plan in big games.
Unfortunately, his 41-year-old replacement looks out of his depth at Stamford Bridge.
Even Anthony Gordon was surprised at how tactically open they were during the Newcastle clash.
In these three months, Rosenior has not shown enough to raise hopes that he can take Chelsea to compete for top honours next season.
The bulk of the blame should fall on the sporting directors for assembling an atrocious squad and for picking the easiest coaching target from a sister club to steer it.
However, Rosenior is clearly not the man to take the West Londoners back to the pinnacle of the beautiful game.
The sooner they realise this and correct their mistakes, the better.
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