The eye test and data agree, Liam Rosenior is NOT Chelsea level

When Iraola is free, removing Rosenior is a no brainer

This week, via Sky’s Kaveh Solhekol and The Atheltic, Chelsea confirmed again that current Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior is their man for the long term. The club made clear they have no plans to remove him, even if Chelsea don’t make the Champions League this season.

Now as many know, I’m generally patient when it comes to managers. I am a big fan of stability, I believe its the only way to achieve sustained success, and I want to avoid reactionary short term takes. I stuck by Graham Potter and Enzo Maresca longer than many did. I generally always want managers given time before judging them.

I also don’t like how many managers we’ve been through under the current ownership, so ideally I wouldn’t want another change. But things are getting so bad, it looks inevitable.

I also realise we still have 7 games at least remaining this season, so the timing of this article might appear unhelpful. But I feel this is such an urgent issue, it needs addressing before it gets too late. This isn’t

Suffice to say, both myself and many many other Chelsea fans have lost faith in Liam Rosenior already. He’s lost support quicker than almost any Chelsea manager in my lifetime. I think its important to acknowledge just how significant this is, because many of the most patient, rational fans I know feel the same.

This isn’t a reactionary, or even emotional view, its one many have come to even whilst trying to be patient with him. This isn’t a “hit piece”, there’s no malice intended here. Many people, including myself, are just naturally concerned with the trajectory we’re on in terms of performances and results, and I and others all feel Rosenior’s coaching is a becoming a big hinderance to our success.

I understand the club are supporting him publicly to present a united front as we end the season, that’s logical and make sense. But to me, to continue with Rosenior in charge beyond the end of the season would be one of the worst and potentially most harmful decisions made by the ownership.

As much as I have huge respect for Daniel Finklestein, I disagree with his assessment on the role of the head coach. He believes it doesn’t impact results, however I believe it has a huge impact on results, performances and on pitch success.

I like Liam Rosenior as a person. He’s shown by his public comments that he knows the responsibility of managing Chelsea, and what is expected by fans. He’s made an effort to connect with fans and respects the club.

He’s also taken full responsibility for the bad results and performances, without fail, even going to fans to apologise. I have a lot of respect for that, because that’s very rare in a coach. He’s clearly a man of integrity who is doing his best.

When criticising a manager social media has a bad habit of dehumanising people, making criticism cruel and vindictive. I don’t sign up to that. I’ve got a lot of criticism for Rosenior for his coaching performance at Chelsea, but that’s as far as it goes.

Rosenior did a fairly good job at Strasbourg as far as I’m concerned, so he’s clearly got potential as a coach. I do believe he’s doing his best to be successful and his intentions are the right ones. I also think him being thrown into the Chelsea job the way it happened, with no time with the players, no pre-season, fatigue and injuries in the squad and the squad not up to standard, was unfair on him, especially given his inexperience. He could hardly turn the job down, and I have no malice towards him whatsoever.

But as a head coach, the objective, unbiased data doesn’t lie. It shows conclusively and definitively that Liam Rosenior is simply not a good enough coach to manage Chelsea.

In 11 PL games under Liam Rosenior we have won 5, lost 4 and drawn 2, a win percentage of about 45%. That’s the lowest in the PL in the modern era bar Graham Potter. In those 11 games, we have 17 points. That’s an average of 1.54 points per game. Over 38 games, that’s 58 points.

If we lose to Man Utd this weekend, Rosenior’s points per game will drop below even Graham Potter’s abysmal 1.42 points per game. That is absolutely horrendous.

CFCCentral recently posted on Twitter, that Chelsea have now lost more games under Rosenior in all competitions - 8 - than they have in the same period in any other PL league season this millennium barring 2022/2023, under Graham Potter.

We’ve also lost 5 of our last 6 games, the only win being at home to Port Vale. Those 5 defeats have an aggregate score of 15-2. Again, embarrassing and unacceptable at Chelsea. Certainly a sacking offence in the past.

We’ve also not kept a clean sheet in the league since the 17th January - literally 3 months and 10 games. In all competitions, we’ve only had four clean sheets in the last 18 games. Against Brentford, Pafos, Hull and Port Vale. Tottenham have literally had 3 managers since the last time we kept a clean sheet in the PL.

Outside Port Vale, we’ve not scored in 4 games, and 3 consecutive PL games. Chelsea have, in fact, lost three consecutive league games without scoring a goal for the first time in 28 years, the kind of record you don’t want to hold. Our last PL win was against Aston Villa on 4th March 2026, 6 weeks ago at time of writing.

Chelsea are 9th in the 2026 PL form table and we’re only a few points above the bottom half of the season table. If our current run keeps going we may not qualify for Europe at all, and could even finish in the bottom half, all of which would be simply disgraceful.

Tactically, Liam Rosenior has done some things right, but he’s also made a lot of mistakes, some bad or just strange substitutions which haven’t made any impact, and he’s potentially driving Josh Acheampong out of the club by not playing him, when at this point, there’s nothing to lose by starting him every game. Many players are regressing under his coaching, bar Jarrol Hato and Joao Pedro. The overall performance levels have gone way down.

Rosenior’s overall record is P21 W11 L8 D2 with a win % of 52%, in the PL his win % is 45%. Graham Potter’s was an abysmal 31.9%, but Rosenior’s % is below every other permanent Chelsea manager since Ruud Gullit. Mauricio Pochettino is just above him at 47%. If Liam keeps losing games, those stats are only going to get worse for him.

As much as I like him as a person, with the greatest of respect, this is simply not good enough for Chelsea Football Club. Even taking into account fatigue, injuries, taking over mid-season, there’s no excuse for such an awful run of form, the consistently poor performances or the poor defensive record. Now we’re not even scoring either, Port Vale apart.

If Liam is kept into next season, the data suggests he loses his job early-mid season due to results. That will mean yet another season at Chelsea is wasted, which could drive more top players away.

On current form we’d be lucky to get a top half finish next season, yet alone get into the Champions League. This is simply not acceptable at this club, and shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Rosenior might be a talented coach, but he is just not Chelsea level right now. He’s done nothing whatsoever to warrant a pre-season or any further games once the season is over.

And frankly it’s obvious to see, to almost everyone.

Chelsea need a proven head coach, someone with a strong reputation and some experience, who can be a leader for the players, improve them and get results even if the team is low on form and confidence. We need a head coach who isn’t learning on the job, who comes in with authority and some experience behind them, and the coaching and tactical prowess to get success consistently, to have a short and long term impact.

That’s the kind of coach you need to give the keys to, and allow to have an impact on recruitment. Not the most unproven coach we’ve hired under this ownership. Enzo Maresca may have had less experience in terms of seasons as a coach, but he’d coached at big clubs, worked with big players and been at big clubs as a player. Liam Rosenior has none of that.

If the club really commits to going for PL proven top players this summer, tweaking the model slightly and adding some healthy experience and proven talent to improve the squad, then give the keys to that to someone who can make the most of those talents. A coach who is respected in the game with a track record. If they actually do that, more managers might actually be open to taking it.

Allowing Liam Rosenior to leave this summer will apparently not cost a thing if we don’t make the Champions League - currently highly unlikely. So its not costly to remove him from his postition. Not only can Chelsea release him for nothing, there’s some coaches who are or will be unemployed this summer, so it will cost nothing to bring in, who can come in with proven ability, a track record, and authority.

The two I’m talking about are Xabi Alonso (if he doesn’t join Liverpool and we can persuade him), and more realistically, Adoni Iraola, who has now confirmed he is leaving Bournemouth at the end of the season.

Alonso we all know about. He did an incredible job at Leverkusen and was unlucky to lose his job at Real Madrid. He’s one of the best young coaches around right now and would be a phenomenal appointment, maybe the best we could make right now. But the likely reality is, he will either go to Liverpool or turn us down anyway.

I’d also add that we’re not capable of attracting, or wouldn’t look at, proven winners right now. The likes of Luis Enrique or Julian Nagelsmann, both of whom are the level of coach Chelsea should be looking at, won’t be interested in Chelsea at the moment, even Frank Lampard doesn’t want to come back. So the field is narrower.

That leaves Adoni Iraola.

Adoni Iraola has the PL experience, has shown tactical flexibility, beaten big teams and shown he can develop players. For where we are, he’s a good fit.

I’ve seen some argue Iraola is another coach who’s come from a smaller club, never faced low blocks, and might struggle to step up a level. Whilst that argument has validity, I think its it’s important to note all elite managers have to start somewhere - and most would start at a club where they don’t face low blocks. The top coaches adapt when they make the step up.

I admit, I was skeptical about Iraola for a time, but he’s adapted himself tactically recently, shifting from his high line in certain games to get results. At time of writing. Bournemouth are 12 PL games unbeaten. He’s beaten some top teams during his time at Bournemouth, most recently Arsenal away, and competed strongly with others (including us under Enzo Maresca this season). As mentioned before, he’s developed young talent, worked in a similar recruitment structure and dealt with key players leaving relatively seamlessly.

Iraola has adapted to what he’s been given, and has Bournemouth competing for European places. The key thing, outside all these factors, and his PL experience, is that is available and will cost nothing in compensation. Chelsea, even with no European football, would be a step up for him. As such, Adoni Iraola is a realistic possibility if we chose to pursue him.

When coaches of this quality are attainable and available for nothing, you have to take notice. Especially if you’re in our situation. We’re getting consistently poor results with a coach who respectfully looks out of his depth, so with all respect to Liam Rosenior, it’s just a no brainer to make the change to Iraola.

Of course there are other serious contenders. Frank Lampard, who’d be a dream choice if they gave him power and influence over team building, won’t come back right now. There’s also Cesc Fabregas at Como, and Porto’s Franciso Farioli, both of whom I really like and would be excellent appointments.

But these kind of appointments will cost more and be more difficult to get out of their current clubs. Indeed Fabregas has publicly committed to Como for next season.

That’s why Iraola is probably the simplest practical solution for where we are as a club, and it’s one which will likely satisfy a lot of fans.

As much as I like and respect Liam Rosenior, and wanted him to succeed, the Chelsea job has come way too soon for him. He’d be best off taking a smaller job in the PL or even Championship, as Lampard did, to gain more experience, before coming to a bigger job again in future if he earns it.

I’ll be honest, I’m slowly becoming a little concerned that if Liam Rosenior stays at Chelsea into next season, and if results and performances continue as they are, the club’s ambitions could be seriously hindered and our reputation be damaged. An early or mid-season change next season would be inevitable on current form.

I’d have little or no faith in achieving European football next year under Rosenior’s coaching. I’d actually be more worried about being in the bottom half of the table if I’m honest. I’m pretty confident most fans are now of the same opinion as me too.

Honestly, I’ve never seen a fanbase so united against a Head Coach before. Rosenior has lost almost the entire fanbase in record time, and once a head coach loses the fans at Chelsea, they rarely get them back. The body language of the players suggests not all of them have faith in Rosenior either.

Of course, as a fan I’ll back Rosenior and the team for the rest of the season, because he’s not leaving during the season, and because I respect him as a person and know he’s doing his best for the club. If he succeeds, Chelsea do, so I’m hoping things change quickly.

I always want Chelsea to win, no matter what, and the talent in the squad is there. But right now, with respect, I have very little faith in Liam Rosenior as the head coach to take the club forward or achieve our ambitions. As always, I’d love to be proved wrong, and will hold my hands up if I am. But right now I just can’t see it, and the longer he stays and the current form continues, the more concerned I will be

Regardless of what happens for the rest of the season, a reset is needed (again) in the summer, from top to bottom, on the football side. That should start with the Sporting Directors (though I know it likely won’t), and should certainly include the head coach and some of the squad too.

Enough mistakes have been made in the current football leadership structure. In my view that needs to change, not just for us to progress as a club, but to avoid us falling down the league even more, both this season and next.

The Score