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I know, I can hardly look at this crap either | (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP via Getty Images)
Once again, it wasn’t necessarily the defeat but the manner of the defeat that’s caused the most consternation. After all, Chelsea have not been on the level of Manchester City for five years running. It’s now thirteen games without a win against Pep Guardiola’s side, since beating them in the 2021 Champions League final. Our paths since then have diverged rather drastically.
And the biggest concern is that the frequency of these sorts of games is only increasing. Every indicator is trending in a negative direction. Head coach Liam Rosenior appears to be not only out of his depth, but actively floundering. And aligned, of course. So aligned!
On Sunday, he oversaw yet another, in his words, “massively disappointing” match, featuring yet another massive collapse. Those of more optimistic persuasion perhaps had hopes of Chelsea conjuring a classic unexpected win; others maybe had hopes of simply avoiding embarrassment. Whatever faint hope was given in the first 45 minutes was swiftly crushed in the second.
“Massively disappointing, especially because of the first-half performance, but it’s happened too many times where Man City started the second half better than us. That can happen against a good team, but what you can’t do is concede two goals in the manner that we did so quickly, one after the other. And again, it comes down to resilience in difficult moments and seeing those moments through and making sure you’re still in the game.
“[The] second-half performance was nowhere near what we wanted or what we expected at half-time. The way I coach, I try to help the players in the moment. There was no frustration in the first-half performance. I felt in the first half, our defensive structure, we were organised, we were very difficult to break down. In transition moments, we were a threat. [But] there’s too many times in a short space of time where we go a goal down and then quickly followed by another. And that’s something that just can’t happen moving forward.”
“First half, I felt we actually were very, very good today. Same against PSG for 75 minutes, but then we concede and then the cards start to fold.”
We keep saying it can’t happen moving forward, yet it keeps happening at every turn. It’s like a headline from
The Onion: “This Cannot Keep Happening Regularly, Says Club Where This Keeps Happening Regularly”.
But no worries, Rosenior, he’s our man. If he can’t do it, no one can.
“We are still in the race for the Champions League. We still have the possibility to win the FA Cup. I have to change it now. I’m not a manager that hides behind maybe we need to do something with other players in the transfer market. I need to change it now. That’s why I’m here.”
“[…] I need to win in this moment. This is a huge football club. When I first came, I never asked for a lot of time because I understand this club. I understand the traditions and the history of this club. I would like to have that time and I’m confident that in that time, you can create something very, very special within the time that it takes, which even someone as experienced as Pep or Jurgen Klopp when he won the titles he did at Liverpool, they had a year to sort things out. I’ve come in January. It’s not an excuse. It’s a reality. I need to win in the now and that’s what I’ll be focused on.
“[We] have to keep working. We have to keep trying to improve. I have to get the team selection right on the balance of our attack and play, but also defending better in certain moments and that’s what we’ll focus on.”
-Liam Rosenior; source:
Football.London
If it took those “experienced” guys a year to sort things out, how long is it going to take for Rosenior?
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