Chelsea have named Liam Rosenior as their new head coach on a six-and-a-half-year contract.
The announcement was extensively anticipated after Rosenior held a press conference in Strasbourg this morning to confirm he would be leaving the Ligue 1 club to move to Stamford Bridge.
The 41-year-old succeeds Enzo Maresca within the position after the Italian was sacked on New 12 months’s Day. Calum McFarlane oversaw Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester Metropolis which left the West London club fifth in the Premier League standings.
Chelsea ‘delighted’ to verify Rosenior appointment
A Chelsea assertion learn: “Chelsea Soccer Membership is delighted to announce the appointment of Liam Rosenior as head coach of the lads’s staff.
“The Englishman has signed a contract with the membership that may take him by way of to 2032.
“Rosenior arrives at Stamford Bridge after teaching abroad with RC Strasbourg, the place he led the French membership to European qualification for the primary time in 19 years in his first season, and following earlier roles in England with Hull Metropolis and Derby County.”
Strasbourg and Chelsea are each owned by BlueCo, making Rosenior’s transfer from Ligue 1 to the Premier League comparatively simple.
“I’m extraordinarily humbled and honoured to be appointed head coach of Chelsea Soccer Membership. This can be a membership with a novel spirit and a proud historical past of profitable trophies,” Rosenior told the club’s official website.
“My job is to guard that id and create a staff that displays these values in each recreation we play as we proceed profitable trophies. To be entrusted with this position means the world to me and I need to thank all concerned for the chance and religion in enterprise this job. I’ll give all the pieces to deliver the success this membership deserves.
“I consider deeply in teamwork, unity, togetherness and dealing for each other, and people values can be on the coronary heart of all the pieces we do. They would be the basis of our success.”
There’s a actual starvation to win at Chelsea – Rosenior
He added: “I’m excited to work with this extraordinarily gifted group of gamers and workers, to construct robust connections on and off the pitch, and to create an atmosphere the place everybody feels united and pushed by the identical objective.
“There’s a actual starvation to win, and I’ll give all the pieces, each single day, to assist this staff compete and win on the very highest stage to make everybody linked and proud to be part of Chelsea Soccer Membership.
“I would like our followers to be happy with who we’re and what we characterize in each single recreation that we play. They’re the soul of this huge, historic and large soccer membership.
“I can not wait to fulfill you all. I can not wait to get began.”
No change in coverage at Chelsea regardless of Maresca departure
Maresca was dismissed regardless of serving to the membership to 2 trophies, the Convention League and the Membership World Cup final summer season.
The Italian hinted at a breakdown in relations with the membership’s board with experiences suggesting one of many causes was the actual fact he had held conversations with Manchester Metropolis over changing Pep Guardiola on the Etihad on the finish of this season.
Chelsea’s mannequin in latest seasons has been to signal younger gamers and that seems set to proceed regardless of the change in coach.
The membership’s assertion added: “Liam has proven that he can construct groups with a transparent means of enjoying whereas setting the very best requirements with gamers on and off the pitch. Whereas there’ll proceed to be a deal with participant improvement, the membership’s expectations and ambitions stay excessive.
“Liam has the power to get the perfect out of this squad rapidly and joins us with the accountability and the backing to make sure Chelsea continues to compete on the prime stage in all competitions this season and in seasons to return.”
I’ll love Strasbourg for the remainder of my life, says Rosenior
Rosenior’s determination to go away Strasbourg was not one he took flippantly and, following talks in London with Chelsea yesterday, he flew again to France to clarify his causes to the membership’s supporters.
At a swiftly organized press convention, he mentioned: “The final 18 months have been a pleasure and the perfect of my skilled profession. I’ve met some unimaginable individuals and created some unimaginable recollections and made historical past.
“None of that occurs with out the funding of our possession and laborious work of our president.
“I’ve had curiosity from many golf equipment, together with Champions League golf equipment, which I’ve at all times been open with to [our president] Marc [Keller] and our possession.
“I’ll love this membership for the remainder of my life however I can not flip down Chelsea. Being Chelsea coach is an unbelievable alternative at an unimaginable membership, the world champions. I can go dwelling, see my youngsters, signal for an impressive membership. I can’t flip down this chance.”
Rosenior quick on expertise at elite stage
His appointment is more likely to be met with just a little little bit of scepticism from the Chelsea followers given a comparatively quick teaching profession.
He labored underneath Wayne Rooney at Derby earlier than a three-month spell as interim supervisor led to September 2022.
He was named Hull boss a fortnight later and led them to a Fifteenth-placed end within the Championship.
The Tigers completed seventh the season after, narrowly lacking out on the playoffs, however a disagreement over philosophy with proprietor Acun Ilicali noticed him dismissed.
Rosenior was named because the successor to Patrick Vieira at Strasbourg in July 2024 and guided the membership to a different seventh-placed end in Ligue 1. He leaves with the membership in seventh having additionally certified for the knockout phases of the Convention League.
