Chelsea bosses face fresh scrutiny after a dismal showing at Everton, where a 3-0 loss on Saturday intensified concerns that the squad looked disengaged from head coach Liam Rosenior. The result capped a terrible 10 days: two humbling defeats to PSG that ended their Champions League campaign and Premier League losses to Newcastle and Everton.
The run is worse when viewed from early February. Since February 3, Chelsea have played 12 matches and won just three — against Wolves, Hull and Aston Villa. Rosenior, who took charge on January 10, has overseen 19 games in total: 10 wins, two draws and seven defeats. Still, the owners likely expected stronger returns.
Missing out on next season’s Champions League looms as a major threat. Failure to qualify could cost around £100m and would be particularly painful for a club that, according to UEFA, recorded the largest pre-tax loss in English football history. That financial risk adds urgency to the growing sense of disconnect between supporters and the people running the club.
Fans don’t only blame Rosenior. Many feel the club under this ownership no longer resembles the Chelsea they knew: a team with character, personality and the never-say-die spirit that came under elite managers. Questions persist about why the new owners dismantled a setup that included Thomas Tuchel — a manager who won the Champions League for Chelsea in 2021 — and why recruitment has prioritized youth over seasoned Premier League experience. Supporters also point to unresolved issues in key positions: the goalkeeper situation, and the absence of an experienced centre-back.
There’s unease about the calibre of recent managerial appointments compared with past names like Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte. Discontent has spilled into plans for a fan protest before the April 18 home match with Manchester United, with supporters from Strasbourg — a club that shares ownership links with Chelsea — set to join.
Rosenior needs an immediate response on the pitch. Chelsea face Port Vale in the FA Cup quarter-final, then host Manchester City and Manchester United in crucial Premier League fixtures that could determine their Champions League hopes. At the same stage last season, Chelsea had five more points and sat two places higher; a turnaround is still possible, but time is running out.
Merson: Chelsea players not on same page as Rosenior
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson warned that Rosenior has had a poor month, with four successive heavy defeats and not a single win in that run. The Everton performance, he said, was “a horrible, horrible watch,” and gave the impression the players were not aligned with the manager.
Merson questioned whether Rosenior would even be considered for top vacancies at clubs like Liverpool or Newcastle, suggesting it’s unlikely he’d be interviewed for those roles. He added that Chelsea supporters have been critical of Rosenior from the start, and implied the board would expect Rosenior to push for a top-five finish to satisfy them.