"We just have to trust the process." Malo Gusto said it. Whether he believes it is one thing — whether Chelsea's season can survive it is another entirely.
The Blues stumbled into the March international break having lost four consecutive games, shipping 12 goals in the process. Champions League qualification is slipping away. They're already out of Europe. Star players are reportedly pushing for the exit. And Liam Rosenior, the 41-year-old airlifted in from Strasbourg on New Year's Day with a CV built almost entirely in the Championship, is the man being asked to fix it.
A rocky landing after a bright start
To be fair to Rosenior, the opening weeks gave genuine reason for optimism. Seven wins from his first nine games quietened a lot of the early skepticism — the only two defeats came against Arsenal, who happen to be leading the Premier League. That's a forgivable set of results.
Then it unraveled. Chelsea, in Rosenior's own words, "set fire to four points" with late collapses against promoted Leeds United and Burnley. Lost to Arsenal again. Then Newcastle. Then Everton. Then PSG for good measure. The system he's been gradually installing — a tweaked pressing structure — buckled visibly in the 1-0 loss to Newcastle.
Gusto acknowledged as much: "When you start to understand one and then right away you have to change to another one, it is maybe a little bit more difficult for us because we have a little less experience." That's a diplomatic way of saying the squad is confused.
The dressing room's verdict
If there's a mutiny brewing, Gusto isn't part of it. What makes his defence of Rosenior notable is the context — the right back hasn't been a guaranteed starter since the new manager arrived, with 10 teammates logging more minutes. Players tend to go quiet when they're not playing. Gusto went public anyway.
"I think he is a top coach... he is a top person first of all, a top manager as well," the France international told ESPN. Cole Palmer said earlier this season that "life under Liam is amazing." Even Enzo Fernández, before his attentions wandered elsewhere, called Rosenior a "great coach."
So the dressing room isn't the problem. Or at least, that's the official line.
The broader issue is results, and what those results mean for Chelsea's season. A club of their wage bill finishing outside the top four — which is a real possibility now — would be a failure by any measure. The odds on them securing Champions League football have drifted considerably, and another defeat or two after the break will make that conversation unavoidable.
Rosenior has also been subjected to the kind of social media pile-on that goes well beyond football criticism — his choice of glasses, his motivational posts, his control of a ball in training. "LinkedIn Liam" is the nickname doing the rounds. None of it is fair. Most of it is noise. But results are the only currency that actually matters, and right now Chelsea's account is running low.
"Before the international break it was a tough few weeks for us in terms of results," Gusto admitted, "because that is not what we expected."
It wasn't what anyone expected.
