Liam Rosenior has drawn plenty of attention with his start as Chelsea manager, and there is already a lot to talk about in his early days.
He has hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge, even earning a Premier League Manager of the Month nomination for January.
However, the EFL Cup semi-final against Arsenal did not go as planned. The Blues lost both legs, and Rosenior took heat for some unconventional tactics in the second leg when they were already behind on aggregate.
Gary Lineker takes note of ‘clever’ Liam Rosenior tactic used against Arsenal
One tactic that stood out was Chelsea’s approach to defending corners, an area where Arsenal have been particularly effective this season.
Rosenior had three defenders step out of the box just before the corner was taken, a move Gary Lineker called ‘clever’.
Speaking on The Rest is Football, Lineker said: “Arsenal, as we know, are brilliant from set pieces and he (Rosenior) did an interesting tactic from corners.
“I mean, I’ve seen it done before, but whenever they conceded a corner, Chelsea would put three players on the halfway line and create meant obviously that Arsenal had to go back.
“Funnily enough, I remember trying the very same thing. We did it in training with Terry Venables at Barcelona. He did it way more. He put five up. He said, “Let’s see what they do now.” We tried it in training all week and by the end of the week he went, “Not sure. Let’s not do it.’ But Rosenior did it.
“I mean it’s nothing new, but it’s an interesting tactic I think particularly against Arsenal because they crowd your goalkeeper and it means you can’t really do that because you can’t immediately Arsenal put three well they have to put four back because you always need one more behind.
“So I thought it was you know he’s obviously trying to think things through on that and I think that’s quite a clever way of defending against Arsenal.”
Liam Rosenior feels the heat ahead of Wolves clash
Even though Rosenior has made a strong start in the league, there is still plenty of pressure on him to keep that going. The early EFL Cup exit did not help either.
His league form so far has been flawless, but another slip could see Chelsea fall out of the Champions League places, especially if results elsewhere go against them.
The expectation is clear: Rosenior will be judged on whether he finishes in the top five. That is where all his attention will be right now.
This weekend’s match offers a good chance to build some momentum. Wolves are at the bottom of the table, and anything less than three points would raise even more questions about Chelsea’s direction under their new manager.
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