Thierry Henry criticized Liam Rosenior’s reaction to Alejandro Garnacho’s game after Chelsea’s disappointing home defeat to Newcastle United
Thierry Henry criticizes Liam Rosenior (Image: Sky Sports)
Thierry Henry has slammed Liam Rosenior for coordinating the away game after Alejandro Garnacho’s mistake cost Chelsea their game against Newcastle United. The Blues suffered a crushing 1-0 defeat at home to Newcastle at the weekend.
Anthony Gordon scored the only goal of the game as Liverpool drew 1-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur, which saw the Blues drop out of the top five. The goal was not good for the West Londoners as Tino Livramento slotted Jacob Murphy into the net, with Murphy whipping the ball around the outstretched Robert Sanchez before slotting the ball into Gordon.
Appearing on Monday Night Football ahead of Brentford’s home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Henry highlighted how Garnacho tried to press the Newcastle defender. He claimed the former Manchester United forward should have bent his press and blocked the passing lane to Libramento, who was free in the center of the pitch.
The Arsenal legend admitted Garnacho had made a mistake, but he didn’t like the way Rosenior turned away in frustration after Newcastle’s goal. “It’s very important that we talk about how he put pressure on Garnacho,” Henry said.
“At that moment, you have the information yourself that Chalobah might have been going there (going forward), but you know he’s stopped and Libramento is all alone. So at that particular moment, you know that you’re going to turn a little bit or run in an arc to keep the ball from going in, and then they play Malik Thiaw here.
Follow the Chelsea FB page! For the latest news and details about Bruce, visit our dedicated Facebook page.
read more: Jamie Carragher names Liverpool’s biggest problems and gives worrying verdict on Arne Slottread more: Chelsea receive their second hefty fine ever from the FA for breaching regulations
“When you bend the run, something like what I just described can happen, and it has a huge impact on what can happen right after that because you’re allowing the ball to go inside. That’s exactly what you don’t want to do, and he allowed that to happen.”
Regarding Rosenior’s reaction, Henry said: “The first mistake was not letting the ball go inside (as Garnacho did). We’ll fix that later, but we didn’t let the leader on the field (pointing to Reece James) do that, right? But… I want to show you here (pointing to Liam Rosenier turning away from the pitch), Liam Rosenier, I was there, I’m disappointed that they let that ball go in, but we’re not here on the practice field.” A place where you can go, “Oh, let’s start again.”
Henry points out Garnacho as a player to watch (Image: Sky Sports)
“So you talked about coaching players because they didn’t respond, or they liked being coached, or coaches didn’t want to give them that freedom, or they made mistakes.
“He’s not coaching it on the field. Unfortunately, as I said I’ve been there, he doesn’t even see what’s going on. Goal. You know what I’m saying, it’s not easy. That’s what they need to address and they didn’t do it.”
Asked about the Magpies’ goal, Rosenior admitted there were “tactical issues” behind the collective error, but this could prove costly in terms of Chelsea’s bid to qualify for the Champions League. The former Strasbourg manager said: “Yes, there are tactical problems. We press differently than most teams. This is a new way of pressing. We don’t press, we don’t cover where we should. Mistakes are going to happen.”
“They had nothing. They didn’t have anything in the game, but we gave them a goal. We’re talking about pressing. I think the pressing forced Newcastle to kick long balls back to us and we controlled the game.”
“But in those moments we make mistakes. At the moment it feels like every mistake we make ends up in the back of the goal. We need to make sure we stop those mistakes.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving you £336 and offering over 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky broadcasts at least 215 live Premier League matches each season, increasing to up to 100, as well as Formula 1, Darts, Golf and more.
