Former Chelsea player and assistant head coach Jody Morris has been speaking about Liam Rosenior’s arrival at the club this week.
And he believes that expectations need to stay the same, whilst noticing that there isn’t much difference in style of play between Rosenior and Enzo Maresca.
He said: “Expectation wise, I don’t think we should differ from what they were at the beginning of the season. They have to be looking at achieving Champions League football and try to go deep in competitions.
“I am not the type of person who thinks you can win something every year, but the fact that they won trophies last season puts us in the situation where we can try to compete.
“I think they have to do better than what they are doing at the moment, hence why they changed the manager. After watching the first game, I don’t think there is too much of a difference between what Enzo Maresca was playing and what Liam Rosenior want to do.
“I don’t think the expectations should change, and I also think he will continue down the same road. We should be looking at Champions League football and build on what they did last season because they haven’t really done that this season, which probably has been one of the biggest disappointments.
“I am sure Liam Rosenior has the same expectations as well. He has already expressed how excited he is to work with such talented players.”
The base of what he’s saying is correct. The general style of play that Rosenior will play is going to be very similar to Maresca. After all, this is now the club ethos, they want managers to play this way; high possessional based football and controlling games. This is one of the reasons they took on Rosenior.
But possession based football can be very varied. For example, it’s up to the head coach how fast he gets his team to move the ball, how direct they play, how many risks they take, how they play out from the back, how he wants the wingers to play, how intense the press and counter press is, the work rate – all of that can be very variant depending on what coaches demand and teach in training.
It’s very early days after just one game, but some of the key differences I expect to see is the wingers being more direct, more expressive, and being told to go at their full back every time rather than recycle too much. I think they will get more freedom under Rosenior.
The midfield will have more stability with a tighter pivot staying closer together. And I think everything will just be that little bit quicker and intense, including the movement of the ball and pressing. Let’s see on all of that of course, it was just one game. But these are some of the things I, and others, have picked up on and also, the things I’ve been reading and watching about Rosenior since he arrived at the club.
Time will tell on all of this.
