Chelsea could fall short of a Champions League position, but the blame should not be placed on the elevated Rosenior.

Chelsea has become a football club that understands the cost of everything but fails to recognize the worth of anything, which is contributing to their struggle 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 competition for the final Champions League qualification position — the Premier League is almost guaranteed to secure that additional spot due to its standing atop UEFA’s coefficient rankings — but this was not an isolated incident 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 defeat in the Champions League round of 16 against 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 their last 12 matches, yet 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 a penalty 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 merely 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 kick-off in the 1-0 home loss to Newcastle United to show “respect for the ball,” have drawn attention.

With numerous distractions off the pitch, it can be easy to overlook the on-field performance, and currently, Chelsea is playing like the unbalanced and inexperienced team they are, led in his unique manner by the over-promoted and unprepared Rosenior.

While Rosenior, who received a six-year contract upon replacing Maresca, is beginning to feel pressure from the club’s dissatisfied fans, it would be inaccurate to attribute Chelsea’s issues solely to the 41-year-old.

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Rosenior is merely a reflection of Chelsea’s dysfunction rather than the root cause, 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 team 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, was signed 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, deeming 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 opted to bench Sanchez in favor of Jorgensen in the first leg against PSG, where the Denmark international made two mistakes that led to goals. However, against Everton over the weekend, Sanchez returned to goal and also made an error 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 left managing with limited resources, 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 significance of experience and the fact that proven quality is sometimes essential.

Rosenior is viewed within the industry as a promising and astute young coach; England and United legend Wayne Rooney has publicly expressed his admiration for him during 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 standings.

However, 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 adequately prepared to fulfill.

It has become the Chelsea norm for coaches to simply be part of the football structure — a component within a larger framework 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 position requires much more than training ground ability — the head coach/manager must possess charisma to manage the expectations of supporters and navigate an unrelenting media landscape.

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

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

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