Liam Rosenior sees no need for drastic change after opening win at Chelsea
In fact, Chelsea’s 5-1 win on Saturday did them proud, but substitutes Liam Delap, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez and Estevao Willian were too much for a tired Charlton side to handle.
Rosenior became the first Chelsea manager to win his opening match since Antonio Conte in August 2016 and had the largest margin of victory since Luiz Felipe Scolari in August 2008.
“I must say that I am happy with the starting 11,” Rosenior said. “I was very pleased with the front three. [Garnacho] He continued his one-on-one movements.
“Marc Guiu was fantastic and deserved his goal. Jamie [Gittens] He appeared to be heading towards the defenders. He looked like he could create in many moments. So a lot of real positives and a good start.”
The most impressive player was defender Jorrel Hato, who scored the opening goal and plays in the same role that Marc Cucurella played last season.
With Chelsea on the front foot, 19-year-old Hato made reverse runs into attacking midfield positions, found himself in dangerous areas and eventually headed towards the capital.
Ajax’s £37million summer signing has previously struggled at Stamford Bridge, but Maresca has produced arguably his three best performances since leaving the club, playing key minutes in recent league games against Manchester City and Fulham.
“I saw him play for Fulham,” Rosenior said. “I was very impressed with him at the time. Today he took his form to another level. Not only in terms of the goals he scored; I felt that his defensive qualities were at a high level.”
There were concerns when Rosenior announced that Cole Palmer, Reece James and Malo Gusto had been left out for last Wednesday’s defeat at Fulham, particularly due to tougher tests ahead.
Arsenal is next in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday, while Chelsea hosts Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
“He’ll be judged on how he performs against the good teams in the Champions League, against Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa; those will be judged against him, so we’ll have to see,” former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin told 5 Live. he said.
“He’s had a great month with a lot of games where he’s seen a lot of players. Four home league games, two away games, one of them against Wolves, who haven’t had a great season so far.
“There is no easy way, but this is as amicable a way as possible. He will have learned which of his players are fringe players. There are many players he will be happy with.”
But it wasn’t all happiness: Chelsea fans continued their protests against possession throughout the match, even chanting “attack, attack, attack” as their team waited for the breakthrough on the brink of half-time.
The atmosphere among the fans remains fiery due to distrust of the ownership. Rosenior’s caution is a potential trap, given that as a player coming from Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s other club, Strasbourg, Rosenior could easily be labeled as a yes-sayer.
Asked about the chants, Rosenior said: “The only thing I’m going to focus on right now is working as hard as I can to help this team reach the potential that it has – limitless potential. And if you concentrate and focus on your job, hopefully people will see that we’re on to something good.”
