2 hours ago, dermott said:

Tactics went out the window? Tosh. The second half saw the changes that fixed the original selection balls up.

I agree. We watched us beat them 5-1 earlier this season and that was another sloppy, lazy, poor performance from us. A game we should have scored 8 goals in minimum. That's how poor they are defensively and they have not improved dramatically.

It was a good comeback and we eventually applied the expected level of intensity, running and finishing, but tactically the game didn't require changing. The rubbish personnel needed changing.

3 hours ago, RMH said:

So, if the first half was him trying to implement his tactics, he is just following Maresca’s cookbook or basically following someone else’s (SDs or Egbahlis) orders. And, if that is how he wants the team to play, we’re set for another borefest of a coach.

I think he’s been forced to to rotate. I don’t know what the medical team is doing but on one had it’s good as players are remaining fit on the other had its introducing inconsistency.

I think he’s said multiple times he hasn’t been able to introduce any major changes in tactics because they have zero time on the training pitch

I will give him credit for saying we just weren’t good enough in the first half and I needed to make a change. It’s been a minute since we’ve heard an honest assessment from the manager.

It’s a start.

It's the Badiashile thing over Acheampong that does my head in. No manager in the world plays that useless twat over Acheampong, not unless there is someone above pressuring you to develop their investment.

Resting Santos doesn't make any sense given Caicedo and Enzo played full 90s yet again and Santos is the freshest player in the squad considering Maresca hardly played him.

The main issue we have is with squad depth, it’s not there. They are not contributing.

Delap, Garnacho, Badders, Gittens, Hato (to a lesser degree). I would say since Maresca left, Neto has been awful as well. Plus, Palmer hasn’t been at his best due to injuries

You can’t play the same 11 players 3 times a week so the squad depth is a big issue. You need players to come in and contribute. These players are simply not doing it.

6 hours ago, dermott said:

Tactics went out the window? Tosh. The second half saw the changes that fixed the original selection balls up.

6 hours ago, dermott said:

Rosenior believes the victory is down to Chelsea's fighting spirit, as the Blues moved up to fourth.

"There's many emotions, but I'm so happy for the players," Rosenior told Sky Sports. "The fight, the spirit and commitment they showed in the second half.

"Tactics went out the window; it was about personality, quality and character. The players definitely showed that.

4 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

I agree. We watched us beat them 5-1 earlier this season and that was another sloppy, lazy, poor performance from us. A game we should have scored 8 goals in minimum. That's how poor they are defensively and they have not improved dramatically.

It was a good comeback and we eventually applied the expected level of intensity, running and finishing, but tactically the game didn't require changing. The rubbish personnel needed changing.

Completely different team under Nuno, won 3 out of 3 under him. Let’s be honest here, the team at the start of the season was completely different.

20 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Given nothing seems to have changed in the style of play from Maresca to Rosenior, I think we probably have to point fingers at the club again. Style of play is usually decided by directors of football, so that there is continuity if the manager/coach changes.

Hopefully Liam is the one who will win the internal battle and get S&W deservedly sacked

I don't think SD ask manager to play certain way, usually SD hire manager who play certain way.

Based on what I read (I have never watched Strasbourg play), Rosenior idea of football is very similar to Maresca.

Hopefully tactics go out the window for the rest of the season if thats what happened half time

17 hours ago, Scott said:

I will give him credit for saying we just weren’t good enough in the first half and I needed to make a change. It’s been a minute since we’ve heard an honest assessment from the manager.

It’s a start.

Moreover, what I liked is that he made the changes right at the start of the second half. If this was Maresca, we would have been waiting till the 75th minute to see a change.

I'd like to think Liam has the relationships in the club to say no if others are trying to influence team selection.

The starting XI against West Ham was shocking. When you makethat many changes it will also impact the development of players like Gittens, Hato etc.

Mix them in with our strongest team, not all playing at once.

the main problem any coach coming in after december has is they simply never have time in training to get over any major changes in tactics, all they can do is tweak a few things, work on fitness and individuals as they only get 1 maybe 2 sessions at most between games now, and most of that session is fitness driven and practicing the set up for the next game, depending on opponents.

As with every coach we have taken on in this way I would wait until 2 or 3 months into next season before deciding how good this lads tactics will be.

So far though hes getting a lot more effort, fight and backbone from the majority of players (other than a certain few....cough....garnacho).

He said he will learn a lot about his squad in the West Ham game after napoli, lets see if he stands by that now, as he will have learnt not to play Garnacho and Badiashille, pick his best players to start etc.

16 minutes ago, dkw said:

the main problem any coach coming in after december has is they simply never have time in training to get over any major changes in tactics, all they can do is tweak a few things, work on fitness and individuals as they only get 1 maybe 2 sessions at most between games now, and most of that session is fitness driven and practicing the set up for the next game, depending on opponents.

As with every coach we have taken on in this way I would wait until 2 or 3 months into next season before deciding how good this lads tactics will be.

So far though hes getting a lot more effort, fight and backbone from the majority of players (other than a certain few....cough....garnacho).

He said he will learn a lot about his squad in the West Ham game after napoli, lets see if he stands by that now, as he will have learnt not to play Garnacho and Badiashille, pick his best players to start etc.

Very true, Garnacho and Pedro Lomba Neto should be banished to the shadow realm and never be honoured with a Chelsea shirt again.

2 hours ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Very true, Garnacho and Pedro Lomba Neto should be banished to the shadow realm and never be honoured with a Chelsea shirt again.

Not sure why you're lumping Neto in with Garnacho. One was hooked at half time for being a shocking liability, the other came on and was involved in the equaliser.

Honestly that was one of the worst performances I've seen from a winger full stop. He couldn't even pass it 6 yards successfully. Didn't cover his man defensively and offered nothing offensively.

I kind of feel bad for Hato. He was by no means good and he deserved to be subbed, but Garnacho ended up making him look like totally ineffective by consistently leaving Hato isolated.

20 minutes ago, Shweaves said:

Not sure why you're lumping Neto in with Garnacho. One was hooked at half time for being a shocking liability, the other came on and was involved in the equaliser.

Honestly that was one of the worst performances I've seen from a winger full stop. He couldn't even pass it 6 yards successfully. Didn't cover his man defensively and offered nothing offensively.

I kind of feel bad for Hato. He was by no means good and he deserved to be subbed, but Garnacho ended up making him look like totally ineffective by consistently leaving Hato isolated.

Yes i agree, Neto against Napoli is one of the worst performances we've seen in a Chelsea shirt and was rightfully hooked at half time for his replacement to create both goals in the turn around.

They're the same player, only one of them is protected on this forum.

Egotistical babies with zero ability.

Not the right thread for this, but I disrespectfully disagree.

2 minutes ago, Shweaves said:

Not the right thread for this, but I disrespectfully disagree.

No problem, you're allowed to be wrong.

Of course players need to be 'rested' - bless them. But there are ways of doing in with a little more continuity perhaps? A little more thoughtful and considerate? This really is not rocket science. Complete wholesale changes only lead to disruption and chaos - we have all seen it many times. For instance look at the back four that started against West Spam. Gusto and Hato started. Maybe it would have been more intelligently to phase that properly. We should have rested ONE of Cucu or James for the staring XI. And then perhaps ended the game with both Gusto and Hato? A young player like Hato is pretty good - but he is going to play a lot better if he is in a starting line up that DOESNT include Badiashile. It really isn't fair to him. Bring him alongside the better players and let him understand our game better.

I have yet to see a manager in the entire league USE subs in a technically brilliant way. You are allowed 5 subs - you can essentially have an opening team and a defence team. Control the game. Complete game management if you are a smart.

On 01/02/2026 at 13:31, Sconnie Blue said:

It's the Badiashile thing over Acheampong that does my head in. No manager in the world plays that useless twat over Acheampong, not unless there is someone above pressuring you to develop their investment.

Resting Santos doesn't make any sense given Caicedo and Enzo played full 90s yet again and Santos is the freshest player in the squad considering Maresca hardly played him.

Head scratching why Acheampong and Santos didn't feature against West Ham.

Maybe, LR thinks he can improve some of the dross. Perhaps when they worked on things in training the likes of Badiashile and Garnacho performed really well (I would be amazed!).

I get he has to keep bigging the squad up in interviews and he cannot come out and say "clearly some of these players just aren't up to it". But I hope he has seen enough of some of them to know he cannot keep selecting them and that players like Josh HAVE to play more.

He also comments that the improvements in the second half are not down to him and tactical changes but to the players. Erm i beg to differ they are down to him and his poor selection of players in the first half.

45 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Head scratching why Acheampong and Santos didn't feature against West Ham.

Maybe, LR thinks he can improve some of the dross. Perhaps when they worked on things in training the likes of Badiashile and Garnacho performed really well (I would be amazed!).

I get he has to keep bigging the squad up in interviews and he cannot come out and say "clearly some of these players just aren't up to it". But I hope he has seen enough of some of them to know he cannot keep selecting them and that players like Josh HAVE to play more.

Bigger game on Tuesday, save your best players. A.Santos and Caicedo pivot. Acheampong at the back with RJ.

4 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Bigger game on Tuesday, save your best players. A.Santos and Caicedo pivot. Acheampong at the back with RJ.

I hope you're right.

Do we know if Estevao is likely to be back as well?

4 hours ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Egotistical babies with zero ability.

I beg your pardon! I'm part of the gerontocracy!

Oh, you mean Garnacho. Forget I said anything.

24 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I hope you're right.

Do we know if Estevao is likely to be back as well?

Just read he's on compassionate leave.

I believe that Rosenior believes in his own ability. Because of this I think it’s absolutely crazy to believe he doesn’t pick the team. No head coach/manager would sign up to that. None.

The medical team situation I think is another matter entirely. Not sure what to make of it but it might be a chief medical officer overstepping his role. I look at the other teams in the CL and whilst they all rotate they don’t to the extent we do.

The problem with rotation only happens because our signing policy is seriously flawed. Because these young players aren’t playing regularly they are not developing. They are actually regressing imo. If we are going to buy young and pay anything upwards of £40 million on a player then he has to be ready to play. Too many are not. I’d be very interested as to the due diligence done on prospective signings. Are they looking at things like character and personality? I’d take Gittens as a prime example. Lad has lots of ability and is very quick. His problem is I don’t think he’s ready. He’s played all his senior football in Germany against sub standard defences in the main and is struggling big time with the intensity and physicality of the league.

If we had the manager alongside a single sporting director I’m willing to bet our recruitment would improve. We’ve currently got 5 people deciding by committee on who to sign. In my experience this very rarely works. A committee always ends up compromising which can lead to poor decisions.

Our recruitment team have about a 10% hit rate (a guess) it seems. That’s simply not good enough and it’s the main issue holding us back imo.