Liam Rosenior determined to be a ‘winning Chelsea manager’ | OneFootball

Liam Rosenior has vowed to be a “winning Chelsea manager” as his stint at the club starts with a watching brief against Fulham.

The 41-year-old took over from the sacked Enzo Maresca on Tuesday, signing a six-year contract following his exit from French club Strasbourg.

He will not lead the team until the weekend FA Cup tie at Charlton but is at Craven Cottage for the West London derby.

“Super excited. I can’t wait,” he told Sky Sports. “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.

“Every manager has an idea of the way that they want to play. That’s what makes you a coach. For me I have an idea of the way that I want to play, it has to suit the players.

“I think that is one of the reasons I have been brought to the club, it suits the players perfectly, but you have to be able to adapt in terms of tactics, systems, formations.

“The lads when I was working in Strasbourg were very supportive of me. We are very aligned in terms of recruitment, style of play.

“That is why I was brought into the project to begin with. To be honest I never thought it would end up with me stood here in January as Chelsea manager but in life you never know what’s going to happen.”

Rosenior held a farewell press conference with his former club Strasbourg on Tuesday morning before travelling to London, so the logistics meant it was impossible for him to be in the dugout on Wednesday.

Asked why he was not in charge, he said: “Travel, but mainly the fact that Calum [McFarlane] did such an incredible job against Manchester City.

“I thought the performance of the players, certainly in the second half, the energy, the intensity, the quality that they played with. 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.