Why this week was Liam Rosenior's most important yet as Chelsea manager | OneFootball

Chelsea boss takes advantage of easing fixture list to work on the longer term

Five exhausting weeks at Chelsea finally relented this week, allowing head coach Liam Rosenior and his players to take a different approach to the lead-in to a game.

It took him a week to find the time to be shown around Stamford Bridge for the first time.

And this week, ahead of Saturday’s home match against lowly Burnley, was the first time Rosenior’s players have been able to prepare for a weekend match without navigating a midweek game.

Cole Palmer returns to Chelsea training after his holiday in Dubai

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Following last Friday’s 4-0 FA Cup win at Hull City and with an eight-day gap until their next game, Rosenior encouraged his players to jet off and “get some sun” after a “non-stop 18 months” of action, which included a 51-week campaign last season as they went all the way at the Club World Cup.

Joao Pedro, Marc Cucurella, Pedro Neto and others joined Cole Palmer on a quick holiday in Dubai, where players let off steam before returning to training on Wednesday.

Players have spent more time in tactical team meetings than on the grass with Rosenior since he first walked through the door, but this past week has been different. And next week, with another eight-day lead-up to the Arsenal game, will be just the same.

On Thursday morning, Rosenior made it clear to the players that they were about to embark on a two-day tactical lead-in to a game for the first time during his tenure. He wanted to make the point that this was a rare slowing of the schedule — and a chance to work on tactical approaches for the longer-term.

“It’s been one day, walk out, walk through certain scenarios, rest, play,” Rosenior said. “The players have been magnificent in what they’ve given me and what they’ve learnt from team meetings and walk-throughs.

Pedro Neto and Liam Delap celebrate a goal during the Cup win over Hull

Action Images via Reuters

“What they’ve shown me has been top. Every coach would say the more time you get with the group, the more you can imprint what you want. Today was the first opportunity for us to talk about our style and what we want to put into the game and actually work on it. And the players trained really, really well with it.”

Second-bottom side Burnley offer a fine opportunity of three points to Chelsea, whose fixtures become more difficult in March, with Arsenal, Aston Villa and Newcastle all to play.

Burnley have lost three of their past four matches in all competitions, and arrive at Stamford Bridge on the back of a humiliating FA Cup exit at home to Mansfield Town. Yet they stunned Crystal Palace 3-2 from 2-0 down last time out in the league, and Rosenior knows better than to head into the game in a state of complacency. He is trusting that the same will be true of his players, too.

“Every game in the Premier League is an opportunity to win three points,” he said. “It is very simple. With the group I’ve got, I’m very fortunate that normally if they play to the levels I expect, we have a really, really good chance to win every game we play.”