Liam Rosenior has just taken his press conference after a defeat to Arsenal in the EFL Cup, and the Chelsea boss explained a little about where he thought his team had gone wrong (and right) tactically.
Liam Rosenior on the touchline. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
“I changed it a little. I played Estevao as a full-width player and Pedro as a full-width player. We opened up the game and used width more in the second-half. That comes with time and understanding of what I want. I have to say the players have been magnificent with me and the messages they’ve taken on. There are small, minor tweaks that I am making,” Rosenior explained.
“My style is very similar to the previous coach. But you always have to have your own way of playing and your own idea. They’re trying to put that into practise. The biggest problem for us is that we had a lot of illness, injury and we’re playing against a very, very good team.”
Fans who weren’t happy with Enzo Maresca’s style of football won’t be delighted to hear that Rosenior thinks his style is “very similar” to his predecessor’s. We saw a lot of the things tonight which frustrated us a year ago – a team playing short even when they’re not confident or prepared to do so.
Rosenior’s update post game on five players who were out of the squad tonight was not ideal – but we have a better idea of which of the group will be ready to face Brentford on Saturday.
Chelsea’s second goal wasn’t particularly deserved, but we’ll take it. Alejandro Garnacho had a tough job on his hands to keep his effort down as it flew to him, but he pulled it off nicely.
