Chelsea face intensified scrutiny after a 3-0 defeat at Everton that underlined concerns about a squad appearing disengaged under head coach Liam Rosenior. The loss capped a bleak 10 days that included two heavy defeats to Paris Saint-Germain, which ended Chelsea’s Champions League campaign, and back-to-back Premier League reversals against Newcastle and Everton.
The recent form looks worse over a longer stretch. Since February 3 Chelsea have played 12 matches but won only three — victories over Wolves, Hull and Aston Villa. Rosenior, appointed on January 10, has managed 19 games overall, recording 10 wins, two draws and seven defeats. Those returns fall short of what the club’s owners and supporters had hoped for.
Missing out on next season’s Champions League has emerged as a major financial and sporting threat. Failure to qualify could cost the club around £100m and would be especially damaging given UEFA’s assessment that Chelsea incurred the largest pre-tax loss in English football history. That risk has heightened tensions between the fanbase and the people running the club.
Criticism is not aimed solely at Rosenior. Many supporters say the club under current ownership no longer reflects the Chelsea they remember — a team with character, personality and the relentless spirit associated with elite managers. Questions remain over why the ownership moved on from a structure that included Thomas Tuchel, the 2021 Champions League-winning coach, and why recent recruitment has leaned toward youth rather than established Premier League experience. Fans also point to unresolved weaknesses in key areas, notably the goalkeeper situation and the lack of an experienced centre-back.
There is broader unease about the quality of recent managerial appointments compared with past names such as Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte. Discontent has spilled into plans for a fan protest ahead of the April 18 home match with Manchester United; supporters from Strasbourg — a club with ownership links to Chelsea — are expected to join.
Rosenior urgently needs a response on the pitch. Chelsea next play Port Vale in the FA Cup quarter-final, then host Manchester City and Manchester United in successive crucial Premier League fixtures that could decide their chances of finishing in the Champions League places. At the same stage last season Chelsea had five more points and sat two positions higher — a turnaround remains possible, but time is running out.
Paul Merson of Sky Sports warned that Rosenior has endured a poor month, with four successive heavy defeats and no wins in that sequence. He described the Everton performance as “a horrible, horrible watch” and said it suggested players were not on the same page as the manager. Merson also questioned whether Rosenior would be considered for top jobs at clubs like Liverpool or Newcastle and noted that many supporters have been critical of him from the outset. He suggested the board would expect Rosenior to push for a top-five finish to placate the fanbase.