Liam Rosenior: Why did Chelsea choose a 41-year-old Englishman as manager?

There is pressure on Chelsea to get this appointment right, with some supporters chanting former owner Roman Abramovich’s name during Sunday’s draw with Manchester City, and a fringe group of fans planning a protest against the owners ahead of their upcoming Premier League home match against Brentford.

Against this background, they turned to a man known to key figures at Stamford Bridge.

Rosenior first met Chelsea sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart more than 15 years ago while playing for Brighton.

Sam Jewell – Chelsea’s global recruitment director – worked closely with Rosenior when he began coaching Brighton’s Under-23s following his retirement.

Rosenior also knew Stewart during his time as an analyst at Hull, where he played and later coached the team.

Last summer, during the Club World Cup, he traveled to the United States with Strasbourg president Mark Keller to meet with the Chelsea leadership, and owners Hohdad Eghbali and Todd Buhli made regular visits to the French club.

He has always been seen as a potential successor to Maresca, but no mid-season change is planned. Chelsea had hoped Rosenior could continue to build his experience at Strasbourg, but Maresca’s comments at the end of last year forced a change of ownership.

They see their new man, who favors a similar possession-based style, as the smoother option.

Sources close to Rosenior also believe he has a more empathetic communication tone, drawing on the lessons of his mother Karen, who works as a social worker.

He will face scrutiny for his bluntness, but Chelsea will point to the fact he has more experience than Maresca when the Italian is appointed in 2024.

Maresca won the championship, of course, while Rosenior is yet to lift a trophy – but the incoming coach has managed 153 first-team matches at Hull and Strasbourg compared to 67 for his predecessor. Maresca was also Pep Guardiola’s assistant during Manchester City’s treble-winning 2022-23 season.

There is also the issue of Rosenior arriving at Chelsea in poor form, having won none of his past five Ligue 1 matches, just two of 10, and falling 13 points out of winning positions this season.

“I really think the owners put him in training at Strasbourg to prepare him to coach Chelsea one day,” French football expert Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I think if he shows his ability in Strasbourg, who takes a team that was on the verge of qualifying for Europe, to get close to qualifying for the Champions League, which he did last season.”

“I think it showed his potential. It showed his development, it showed his ability to improve the team and the players individually.”