'Always the plan' - Wayne Rooney shares concerns over Liam Rosenior's future at Chelsea
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Wayne Rooney expressed his concerns over Liam Rosenior's future at Chelsea despite having no doubt about the Blues boss' coaching ability based on the time they worked together.
Rosenior became a first-team coach for Derby County back in 2019, and when Rooney was appointed as manager in 2021, he was promoted to be an assistant manager.
The two worked together until the end of the season, before Rooney resigned in June 2022, and Rosenior took over as an interim for a few months.
Rosenior then joined Hull City as a head coach in November 2022, moved to Strasbourg in July 2024, and then to Chelsea in January 2025.
It is a meteoric rise for a relatively young head coach at 41, and there have understandably been some reservations about his capabilities, even among the Chelsea supporters.
Rooney, however, is not concerned about Rosenior's footballing mind but rather whether he would have enough time to even implement his ideas at Chelsea.
"I think there was a plan there when he went into Strasbourg with Chelsea," Rooney said on The Overlap when speaking about Rosenior's appointment.
"So I think that was always the plan, but it's come a little bit sooner than probably Chelsea and Liam expected.
"What I will say is that he's an unbelievable coach, and I could say that through working with him.
"He helped me massively in terms of how he organised the team, how he was on the training pitch, how he coached.
"I don't think there's any doubt about his coaching ability.
"The challenge now for Liam is managing these top players. I think that's the biggest challenge for him. He's a confident person, a confident lad.
"It's going to be interesting to see over the next... however long it is, but I think from here until the end of the season, because these fixtures are getting tougher and tougher.
"If he gets time there, I think he will do well. I think the question is, does he get time?"
This is a fair point, because Rosenior joined mid-season and had no pre-season period to really work with his new squad.
That said, Rosenior has had a remarkable start to his Chelsea career, with eight wins from his first 11 matches across all competitions.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.