Rosenior defends substitutions after Chelsea’s Champions League exit
Liam Rosenior defended his decision to take off Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro during Chelsea’s Champions League defeat against Paris St-Germain.
The Blues lost 3-0 in the last-16 second leg at Stamford Bridge and 8-2 on aggregate.
Head coach Rosenior’s triple substitution on the hour mark brought groans from home fans and seemed like an admission he had accepted that the tie was lost.
But he said: “It’s not an admission – it’s a reality of where the group are. They’ve played over 100 games in 18 months and had no break.
“If I don’t manage their minutes, the likelihood of them getting injured is more likely. I have to make really difficult decisions that, at the time, maybe don’t look great.
“It doesn’t look great when you have to take off your top players, but I have to manage the club for the long term.”
There were boos around the Bridge as the home fans again made their frustration clear.
The appointment of Rosenior as head coach in January was greeted with scepticism by many, and there is general discontent among supporters at the way the club is being run.
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“The fans want success instantly and rightly so for the size of the club,” Rosenior said.
“I understand why fans are frustrated. I understood that before I came in.
“I want to make them happy and give them the nights they deserve. That was a really difficult one because of the manner we went out.”
‘A problem with the strategy and direction’
Meanwhile, discontent at the running of the club was echoed by former Chelsea star Joe Cole after the game.
Speaking as a pundit on TNT Sports, Cole did not hold back in his assessment.
“That is a real leveller of where this club is,” he said.
“Paris is the gold standard. They are the Champions of Europe – it shows that Chelsea are a million miles away over the course of the two legs.
“This isn’t a Liam Rosenior problem. He’s just come through the door. This is a problem with the strategy and direction – where the club are going.
“This is a real eye-opener for where we are as a club at the moment. It’s a lot of money that’s been spent and there should be a real think of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.
“As a football club, you’ve got to go football club first, not business first, or you’ll get performances like that.”
