Liam Rosenior chose not to take charge of Chelsea for the first time in Wednesday’s Premier League clash against Fulham because of the «difficult time-frame» between his appointment on Tuesday and the game at Craven Cottage.
Rosenior, 41, signed a six-year contract as Chelsea head coach on Tuesday after leaving the club’s Ligue 1 partner club Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
But despite making the one-mile trip across west London from Chelsea to Fulham on the team bus with the Blues’ playing squad, Rosenior said that he didn’t have time to prepare the players properly enough for him to take charge of the team.
As a consequence, Rosenior elected to watch from the stands while interim coach Calum McFarlane took charge of the side after the latter oversaw a 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.
«Travel, but mainly the fact that Calum [McFarlane] did such an incredible job against Manchester City,» Rosenior told Sky Sports when asked why he wasn’t taking charge of the team. «I thought the performance of the players, certainly in the second half, the energy, the intensity, the quality that they played with [was so good].
«Not just Calum, but Harry [Hudson] as well, they have supported the lads in a really difficult moment in a really good way.
«I flew in from Strasbourg yesterday morning, so it is a difficult time frame for me to get in the tactical work I want to get into to get the lads to give them the best possible chance to win.
«I’ve got full faith in Calum and the lads to win tonight.»
Rosenior will take first-team training on Thursday before making his debut on the sidelines in Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie away to EFL Championship side Charlton.
«Super excited, I can’t wait,» Rosenior said. «As a young man I have always wanted to be a coach, I’ve talked about it a lot.
«For this opportunity to come up at this stage of my career is great, but my biggest focus is not about being Chelsea manager, it’s about being a winning Chelsea manager, and that is the message that I gave the players yesterday when I was fortunate enough to meet them for the first time.
«We need to hit the ground running for the rest of the season.»
