Liam Rosenior has two weeks to fix Chelsea – but the problems are too big for that | OneFootball

This is a syndicated version of this story, originally featured on the BBC Sport website.

After a fourth defeat in a row, Liam Rosenior said that this international break had arrived at a good time for his players. It’s easy to see why.

The group look exhausted, bereft of confidence and reeling like a punch drunk boxer. They can’t get any worse, so a brief pause can only do them good.

Even the most reliable players in the team are at their limit or beyond it – Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah injured, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez totally physically spent, Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer struggling for anything their usual influence in games.

The two weeks to take a breath should help, but there are downsides too. The rising wave of criticism of Rosenior reached a frenzy after the capitulation against Everton on Saturday, and it now has a fortnight to soak in. It’s a football truism that you want to go into these international windows on a high – going into them after four damaging defeats with largely terrible performances is a disaster.

Rosenior and staff may struggle for quick fixes in two week break

Following the Everton game, the manager spoke about how he and his staff would be spending the time without games working on analysing what’s gone wrong. That’s all well and good – the problem is that it feels likely that their conclusions about the problems this team has are going to need solutions far bigger than those they can provide in a short period.

They can’t fix the fact they have two bad goalkeepers, no elite central defenders, an exhausted midfield and an erratic attack in a few training sessions next week. Nor can they undo years of misguided squad building. They might think up some tweaks that helps the team improve, but it will likely be too little, too late for Champions League qualification in any case.

A season that started with real promise has quickly turned as sour as any in recent memory.

Will Faulks @willfaulks