Rosenior was out of his depth at Chelsea, and it was obvious from the start

Liam Rosenior lasted just 106 days as Chelsea head coach, but it was obvious on Day 2 that the 41-year-old was ill-equipped for the job he had been hired to do.

In truth, it was also clear on Day 1 considering his lack of top-level coaching experience and the naïve belief of BlueCo, Chelsea’s owner, that Rosenior could make the transition from coaching partner club Strasbourg to leading a dressing room of big-name players at Stamford Bridge following the dismissal of Enzo Maresca.

More than 24 hours after watching training on his first day in charge, though, Rosenior chose not to be involved with team selection or play any part on the bench as his new side suffered a 2-1 defeat away to local rivals Fulham in his second day in the job, opting instead to take a more detached approach, sitting alongside Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali in the stand at Craven Cottage.

It was the first of many mistakes by Rosenior. Others would be more obvious and embarrassing: the bizarre claim that his players were “respecting the ball” while surrounding referee Paul Tierney in a pre-match huddle, his odd boast that he was “managing the school team when I was 11” and the decision to hand Alejandro Garnacho a tactical note in the 85th minute of an 8-2 aggregate defeat against Paris Saint-Germain.

All of Rosenior’s gaffes and his corporate speak of “alignment” and “process” combined to make him a figure of ridicule, with some former teammates mocking his unrecognizable persona. Sources have told ESPN that Rosenior was so hurt by some of the criticism that he privately challenged his detractors, with one admitting to being surprised that the Chelsea coach was allowing himself to be distracted by the noise.

But why did that first misstep at Fulham matter? It mattered because it highlighted Rosenior’s inexperience and inability to realize that when you are Chelsea coach, walking in the footsteps of José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel, everything that you say or do is noticed and judged to an extent way beyond anything he had lived through previously in his career.

Having walked into a job after his predecessor had failed to win any of his final four games, a more seasoned coach or manager would have taken a grip of the situation by attempting to make an instant impact, showing skeptical players and supporters that he had the skillset and personality that the Chelsea job demands. Instead, Rosenior sat it out as the supporters chanted angry songs about the owners.

He projected an air of thinking he knew what he was doing, without convincing anyone that he did. Three months later, after a run of seven defeats in eight games and five straight Premier League defeats without scoring that led to Rosenior’s dismissal, it would be difficult to argue that the players were convinced by their unproven young coach.

Under Rosenior, Chelsea failed to win against any of their traditional Big Six rivals or fellow European heavyweights. He suffered three defeats against Arsenal, that humbling UEFA Champions League loss to PSG and his side were also beaten by Manchester City and Manchester United.

There was also the decision to hit Enzo Fernández with an internal two-match suspension for talking up the prospects of a move to Real Madrid, but despite Marc Cucurella making similar positive noises about Barcelona as well as questioning the decision to fire Maresca, the Spain defender escaped any punishment.

Rosenior spoke about how the Fernández ban had been a “club decision,” hinting at it being taken by senior figures above him, which only served to undermine him once again in the eyes of the players and supporters. The structure that Rosenior had happily agreed to work within was ultimately the reason why he was never likely to succeed.

BlueCo’s vision, driven by sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, is of the head coach merely being a cog in a bigger wheel.

It is why Chelsea’s past two hires — Maresca and Rosenior — were plucked from relative obscurity to fit into the club’s ecosystem. After winning two trophies and qualifying for the Champions League in his first season in charge, Maresca wanted a greater say in recruitment, so he was quickly dispensed with once he spoke out to criticize the BlueCo model.

Rosenior was never likely to be as abrasive as Maresca, but while that might have suited the club, it rankled with supporters who viewed him as a “yes man.”

The players also knew that he was not the boss, but a man hired by many bosses above him. Those same bosses are now likely to be under greater scrutiny from the owners after their disastrous decision to appoint Rosenior.

Sources have said that the failed experiment, which leaves Chelsea facing a failure to qualify for the Champions League, may prompt a rethink at the highest level about the BlueCo model and that a more experienced coach is now required. Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fàbregas and Andoni Iraola are likely to be considered, while Frank Lampard — who has two previous spells as Chelsea coach — could also be a contender after guiding Coventry City to promotion to the Premier League.

Having diminished the role of head coach by hiring Rosenior when he was clearly out of his depth, though, Chelsea have a credibility problem of their own making.

Rosenior failed because he wasn’t up to it, but the people who hired him are arguably even more culpable than the man who lasted just 106 days.