Chelsea could fall short of a Champions League position, but Rosenior’s promotion should not be held responsible.

Chelsea has become a football club that understands the cost of everything but fails to recognize the worth of anything, leading the team towards a potential failure to secure a Champions League spot under a head coach who is ill-prepared for the role.

Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Everton left Liam Rosenior’s squad trailing fifth-placed Liverpool by a point in the battle for the final Champions League qualification position — the Premier League is almost guaranteed to claim that additional spot due to its standing atop UEFA’s coefficient rankings — but this was not an isolated defeat for the FIFA Club World Cup champions.

This marked Chelsea’s fourth consecutive defeat across all competitions and their third straight match without finding the net; during this stretch, they also endured an 8-2 Champions League round of 16 thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain.

Since Rosenior took over, having left Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg in January to succeed the dismissed Enzo Maresca, the team has managed to win only three of its last 12 matches, but this disappointing performance has largely gone unnoticed amid various other distractions at Stamford Bridge.

The club has faced a Premier League-record fine of £10.75 million and a suspended transfer ban as punishment for illicit payments made during Roman Abramovich’s tenure, alongside Rosenior’s awkward and at times perplexing remarks and actions.

His choice to give winger Alejandro Garnacho a tactical note while Chelsea had just five minutes to recover from a six-goal deficit in the second leg against PSG, as well as his defense of his players encircling the ball — and referee Paul Tierney — before kickoff in the 1-0 home loss to Newcastle United to “respect the ball,” have raised eyebrows.

With numerous distractions off the pitch, it can be easy to overlook the events on it. Currently, Chelsea is exhibiting the characteristics of an unbalanced and inexperienced team, led in a unique manner by the overpromoted and ill-equipped Rosenior.

While Rosenior, who received a six-year contract upon replacing Maresca, is starting to feel pressure from the club’s dissatisfied supporters, it would be inaccurate to attribute Chelsea’s issues solely to him.

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Rosenior, 41, is merely a reflection of Chelsea’s dysfunction rather than its origin, and his position in the dugout is a result of the philosophy of the club’s owners, Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly’s BlueCo, who have opted for significant spending in certain areas while cutting corners financially in others.

The squad is burdened with overrated forwards, frequently acquired for inflated transfer fees, while critical positions such as goalkeeper — and head coach — are overlooked in favor of budget-friendly alternatives.

Consider last summer’s acquisition of Jamie Gittens, Borussia Dortmund’s 21-year-old winger, for a £48.5 million transfer fee. Two months later, Chelsea brought in Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho for £40 million, while earlier that summer, Estêvão, 18, joined from Palmeiras for an initial £29 million.

All three are young talents with potential, and Chelsea requires wingers, but during the same summer, the club pursued AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan — a proven and experienced No. 1 — yet chose not to finalize a deal because they deemed the £21 million transfer fee excessive.

This decision resulted in Chelsea starting the season with Robert Sánchez and Filip Jørgensen vying for the goalkeeper position, but neither is adequate, and both have made notable errors in recent weeks. Rosenior benched Sanchez in favor of Jorgensen in the first leg against PSG, where the Denmark international made two mistakes that led to goals. However, at Everton over the weekend, Sanchez returned to goal and also made a mistake that resulted in a goal.

Thus, the club that has invested nearly £2 billion in player acquisitions since Clearlake-BlueCo took over Abramovich’s stake in May 2022 still lacks a competent goalkeeper. However, they do have an abundance of wingers.

Due to the recruitment choices made prior to his arrival, Rosenior is working with a limited hand, although he still has some exceptional players — Cole Palmer, Moisés Caicedo, João Pedro — at his disposal. Nevertheless, Rosenior’s appointment exemplifies Chelsea’s failure to appreciate the importance of experience and that, at times, proven quality is essential.

Rosenior is viewed within the sport as a promising and astute young coach; England and United legend Wayne Rooney has publicly expressed his admiration for him from their time together at Derby County. Rosenior was also unfairly dismissed by Hull City in May 2024 after narrowly missing out on the EFL Championship playoffs, a year after the club finished in the lower half of the table.

Despite his reputation as a coach with potential, the transition from Strasbourg to Chelsea was far too significant, and the football hierarchy at Stamford Bridge has assigned him a role that he is not prepared to undertake.

It has become the Chelsea norm for coaches to simply be a part of the football structure — a cog in a larger mechanism of upper management and multiple sporting directors — but this only functions if the coach is allowed to coach.

At a club with a global stature like Chelsea, the role demands much more than mere training ground ability — the head coach/manager must possess charisma to manage supporter expectations and navigate an unrelenting media landscape.

Every statement is crucial, and Rosenior, like Maresca before him, has frequently misspoken. However, this can be attributed to his inexperience. Managing Hull and Strasbourg does not, and cannot, equip one for the challenges of managing Chelsea.

Former owner Abramovich sought out high-profile figures such as Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Conte, and Thomas Tuchel for this reason. He desired strong personalities with proven track records. Currently, the new Chelsea appears to seek none of that. They favor flashy new forwards with potential but are willing to economize on goalkeepers and coaches.

Rosenior embodies this dual approach, and both he and his team are suffering as a result.