Chelsea were booed off the pitch after being thrashed 8-2 on aggregate by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, but Liam Rosenior still has questions to answer.
Liam Rosenior is under pressure after Chelsea lose to PSG (Image: Shaun Brooks/Getty Images)
Liam Rosenior has been forced to deal with boos from fans and star players openly questioning his tactics after Chelsea were kicked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain. On Tuesday night, the Blues lost 8-2 on aggregate as PSG ran out 3-0 winners in a hard-fought battle at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were tied 2-2 in the first leg, only conceding three goals in the closing stages at the Parc des Princes. Kviča Kvaratskhelia scored the last two goals in the first leg and effectively sealed the tie in the sixth minute of the second after capitalizing on Mamadou Sarr’s shocking error.
The visitors continued to destroy Chelsea on the counter-attack, with Bradley Barcola and Seny Mayur adding further goals. PSG goalkeeper Matvei Safonov made several good stops, but Rosenior’s team could not even find the winning goal.
With many supporters heading for the exits after Mayur’s 62nd-minute shot from the edge of the box, Rosenior effectively waved the white flag with 30 minutes remaining, dismissing the key trio of Enzo Fernandes, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer. Fernandes’ post-match assessment may ring alarm bells for Rosenior after PSG lost 1-0 at home to Newcastle in the Premier League.
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“I think we lost control in the first leg,” Fernandes said. “I think in the last 15 minutes they scored three goals. Three goals is a big difference in today’s football. We made a mistake and we paid for it. In football it’s all about the details.”
“In the end, PSG took advantage of those chances, and it was a tough battle after that. Obviously, they scored in the first five minutes, but in the end it’s all about the details. That’s how football works. Congratulations to PSG, because they were much better than us. I think tactically they beat us.”
Rosenior has made a positive impact since replacing Enzo Maresca in January, but has found himself in a precarious situation. They were kicked out of the Champions League by the defending champions, dropping to sixth place after winning just one of their last five Premier League games and falling back in the race for next season’s Champions League qualification.
Enzo Fernandes was unhappy with Chelsea’s approach against PSG (Image: Steve Bardens – AMA/Getty Images)
He has won 10 of his 18 games in charge, but Chelsea’s disastrous defeat to PSG has reportedly given the club’s hierarchy pause to consider his long-term future. The 41-year-old signed a contract until 2032 when he arrived in January, but Sky Sports France reports that senior figures behind the scenes have concerns about Rossenyol’s ability to lead the team, with speculation mounting that he could be sacked in the summer.
There was obvious dissatisfaction in the crowd on Tuesday night, with boos erupting when Rosenior made the decision to remove Pedro, Palmer and Fernandes in the 60th minute with the score 2-0 up. The sight of the manager handing Alejandro Garnacho a memo with tactical information in the 85th minute, as Chelsea narrowed the gap to six points, also did not go down well on social media.
Rosenior defended his decision to sit out his key attackers and when asked if he was worried about boos after the final whistle, he said: “No, I think it’s a two-way street. This is a great football club where the fans want immediate success, which is understandable given the size of the club.”
Liam Rosenior’s memo to Alejandro Garnacho didn’t go well (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
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“I have to say that I understand why the fans are frustrated because of the tied scoreline. They want us to win. So I completely understand that and I understood that before I went in. I want to make them happy too and give them the night they deserve, not just me but as a group, as a team. It was really, really difficult considering the way we played tonight.”
“This is football, moments can change the course of things,” Rosenior added. “Two years and four minutes before the game, we came away to Paris or against Aston Villa and performed very well.In the game it was 2-2, but we didn’t cherish the moment and switched off.
“What I have to do is make sure we get it back on track and that comes from not making any mistakes or mistakes. That’s something me and my staff have already talked about, but we’ll talk about it tomorrow and make sure we go into the game against Everton with a really positive mindset.”
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