Liam Rosenior embracing Chelsea chance after large promotion as FA Cup tie kick-starts new era today | OneFootball

New Chelsea head coach is unproven at this level but is relishing the opportunity to prove doubters wrong

“I’ll go round everyone,” he insisted. Fair play, he almost did.

Rosenior has been given a rather large promotion this week, plucked from Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg after 18 fine months in charge in order to become Enzo Maresca’s successor and the next man trusted with a challenging job he appears genuinely delighted to be given.

Over the course of 37 minutes, Rosenior took questions on a wide range of topics, from his own backstory or the youth-based model of the BlueCo clubs, to fan disgruntlement at the club’s owners and, yes, even the correct way to pronounce his name.

It will be wins, draws and losses that ultimately decide how Rosenior’s reign is remembered, but communication is vital part of a job of this magnitude, and his people skills — a key reason he was hired over other candidates — shone through as he spoke in a Chelsea press conference setting for the first time.

Liam Rosenior takes charge of Chelsea for the first time today

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Rosenior is comfortable in his own skin, insisting he has worked “my whole life for a job like this” while also acknowledging people are only ever hired into the roles they occupy because someone took a chance on them. Chelsea are taking a chance on him; the 41-year-old is embracing it.

Among managerial influences who have shaped his approach, Rosenior pulled no punches, citing the great AC Milan head coach Arrigo Sacchi and Louis van Gaal for his Ajax team of the 1990s. He was not afraid to namecheck Pep Guardiola either, even though they are now direct rivals separated by 12 points in the Premier League table.

The conversation never reached the subjects of injury updates, player availability for his first game against Charlton in the FA Cup this evening, or, for that matter, anything about those first opponents at all.

Instead, this was about getting to know the man preparing to lead Chelsea for many years to come, handed a six-and-a-half-year contract and given faith and the authority to put his mark on things where he sees fit.

Having managed only Derby, Hull and Strasbourg, he has never coached in the Champions League, is unproven at this level and accepts it. But his confidence is refreshing. He hopes plenty of fans will buy into it from the off, and that he’ll be in favour with the rest once his side starts winning.

“Potential is amazing when it’s realised,” he said, “and hopefully I can realise my potential.”

I’m playing with some outstanding players, I’m paid well, this is a privilege. If you don’t enjoy what you do, you don’t do it at your best

Liam Rosenior

Enjoyment and Premier League management do not go hand in hand, he was told by one reporter.

“Why?”, came Rosenior’s rhetorical reply. “I’m playing with some outstanding players, I’m paid well, this is a privilege. If you don’t enjoy what you do, you don’t do it at your best.”

Towards the end, Rosenior was asked whether besides all the positive traits there may also be some “bad” traits in the Chelsea squad in need of correction, and whether he might wish to point those out.

“Are you talking about a negative? Of course you are, you’re a journalist,” he said, the reaction in the room a mixture of laughter, surprise, and perhaps lightly prodded egos. “It was a joke,” Rosenior insisted. “It was a joke!”

Liam Rosenior shook hands with journalists before his first Chelsea press conference

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

“It was going so well,” said one reporter. To be fair to the young English head coach, it was. And it had done.

The Rosenior era begins on the pitch at Charlton this evening, but image is important too. He had taken questions, presented the Chelsea project in the way it makes sense to him, and explained why he believes success is attainable “now”, not just in the future.

“I’m not arrogant — I’m good at what I do.”