Paul Merson says Liam Rosenior should stop telling his players to “respect the ball” and giving notes to his players when they are 8-2 down. Chelsea will need to fight back to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The Blues, who have recorded three consecutive losses (two to Paris Saint-Germain and a Premier League loss to Newcastle), only have Champions League qualification and FA Cup qualification left this season.
Meanwhile, Rosenior has been criticized for telling his Chelsea team to “respect the ball” as they gathered in the central circle. The center circle surrounded referee Paul Tierney in bizarre scenes.
The Chelsea manager was also mocked for giving substitute Alejandro Garnacho a piece of paper with tactical instructions written on his side when they were six goals behind with just minutes left of their Champions League defeat to PSG.
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Liam Rosenior was asked his thoughts on the comments Enzo Fernandez made about his future after the loss to PSG.
Read the Magic Man’s latest Sky Sports column below ahead of Chelsea’s next Premier League game against Everton, broadcast live on Sky Sports on Saturday…
Do you respect the ball? Just don’t say it
You don’t want to change Liam Rosenior. He is a very honest person. But there are probably a few things that he’ll go back and forth on. Why did I say that?
Do you respect the ball? Don’t say it. Just don’t say it. I didn’t like the Alejandro Garnacho incident against PSG. Even he was walking away thinking, ‘What am I doing with this note?’ Just stop.
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Tim Sherwood has slammed Chelsea’s controversial pre-match gathering against Newcastle as ’embarrassing’ and ‘utter nonsense’.
The performance against PSG was worrying. Compare Newcastle to Barcelona. Yes. They lost badly, but for three quarters of that game they were the better team. I didn’t like the way Chelsea lost to PSG.
And I think Chelsea will battle it out to qualify for the Champions League this year. They have terrible fixtures. If Arsenal had beaten Chelsea, I would say Manchester City would still be in the title race. It is that difficult.
If you’re Chelsea manager, you’ll be refereeing big games. And Liam Rosenior had six big games – three against Arsenal, two against PSG and one against Newcastle, all in defeat.
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Jamie O’Hara believes Chelsea have ‘stepped back’ under Todd Boehly’s ownership following their Champions League exit to PSG.
Chelsea must qualify for the Champions League. I heard Rosenior say in an interview a few weeks ago to wait until summer. It looks like someone is coming in, but I’m not sure if Chelsea would want those types of players coming in if they weren’t playing Champions League football.
Will Enzo Fernandes stay at Chelsea?
Chelsea are completely ruined and Enzo Fernandes has been blunt about it. Will he come here? He just doesn’t know.
He will have to stay, they paid £100m for him and they will not get that £100m back if they sell him this summer. Unless he has an unbelievable World Cup.
Financial fair play rules and all, they can’t let their academy player go at a huge loss unless they sell him for a huge sum of money, and they don’t sell Reece James, who has just signed a new contract. So I can’t see Enzo Fernandes going anywhere.
How many players have Chelsea walked away from a challenge with?
Chelsea are a million miles away from the Premier League. They are very inconsistent and have no real experience. Even though there is a player who won the World Cup.
They don’t have Thiago Silva, who for me has been greatly missed since the day he left. Chelsea continue to bring in young players when they need experience.
After losing 3-2 in the first leg against PSG, the experience held the team together and helped them maintain a 3-2 lead. We could go 4-2, we still have a chance. But don’t make it bigger than 4-2. Then it goes to 5-2. I can’t get my head around the way they were beaten.
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Gary Cotterill rounds up all the key talking points from Chelsea’s disappointing night at Stamford Bridge, where they lost heavily to holders PSG.
A new goalkeeper is definitely needed in the summer. I don’t know why they didn’t choose Gianluigi Donnarumma. He and David Raya save points. If Raya hadn’t been at Arsenal, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
For every great Raya save, I can match it to a mistake by Robert Sanchez or Filip Jorgensen. The two make a point every now and then. I went to Stamford Bridge to watch the game, and the fans became nervous. And if you’re giving that to the fans, what are you giving it to the players?
Look at all the league winners since Day Dot and you rarely see people winning with a 6/10 or 7/10 goalkeeper.
