Liam Rosenior's ability to laugh at himself will be a strength as Chelsea boss | OneFootball

His first touch came in for some unwanted scrutiny at the Emirates

Liam Rosenior has made an assured start to life as Chelsea boss but has learned that there are some moments when a manager just has to laugh at himself.

It was one of those moments when a manager - Pep Guardiola seems to always manage it with aplomb - tries to impress the crowd with a crisp first touch.

Instead, though, the ball ballooned off Rosenior’s right foot and rebounded back against the advertising hoarding.

A quick glance to his own dugout and there were faces on the Chelsea bench grinning back at Rosenior, humoured by his very public unforced error.

Rosenior, drenched, turned back to the pitch and on went the evening. But this moment was filmed by TV cameras, clipped up on social media, not left there in the moment.

Liam Rosenior urges on his side against Arsenal

John Walton/PA Wire

Preparing for this afternoon’s meeting with Wolves at Molineux has commanded most of Chelsea’s attention at Cobham this week, but certainly not all of it.

“The lads have played it back to me on the video and we’ve had a laugh about it,” Rosenior said in his press conference on Thursday of his first-touch fault. “Estevao said he can’t believe that I was a professional footballer.” Inevitably, cue laughter in the room.

Good on Rosenior. The 41-year-old inhabits one of the highest-profile jobs in English football and is doing a decent job of it so far — with six wins from his first eight games — but he is also aware that a laugh and a joke every once in a while is as important as anything.

On the topic of being willing to laugh at oneself, Rosenior said: “You’ve got to.”

He added: “This is a great job. I love this job. I am serious in many aspects and demanding in many aspects.”

And yet “life is too short,” he explained. “You have to enjoy life. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. At the moment, a lot of people in this country have been laughing at me.”

You have to be able to laugh at yourself. At the moment, alot of people in this country have been laughing at me

Liam Rosenior

One wonders whether baked somewhere into that last line was a sense from Rosenior that he is, more broadly, a source of comedy to some, quite apart from his poor first touch and the well-meaning Estevao dig that followed. Perhaps not. Perhaps he did simply mean his miscontrol and nothing else besides.

Whether he meant to send a message there or not, Rosenior’s ability to be self-deprecating and share a laugh with his players and staff at the less intense times may well help to establish bonds and relationships that help Chelsea out when in the throes of those more intense times. It can be an asset.

Maybe he’ll separate the technical area from the technique for the time being, beginning at Molineux. His attitude is a refreshing one, though. In a serious industry, there is something to be said for the unserious sometimes.