LONDON – Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has seen the memes. He's seen the online comparisons to David Brent from the British version of “The Office.” He knows that people have laughed at him a lot on social media. His children were the ones who showed it to him.
“They love it! There was one about my dress sense where they said I had a decent dress sense and my daughter thought it was really funny,” he said at his pregame press conference on Friday. “She hates my dress sense!”
Despite all the laughter, Rosenior has kept his promise to secure wins for Chelsea: he now has six wins in his first seven games in all competitions since he first stood on the touchline earlier this month.
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Saturday's 3-2 victory over West Ham United was the first time in Premier League history that Chelsea overcame a two-goal halftime deficit to win. Following Wednesday's 3-2 victory over Napoli in the UEFA Champions League, it is also the second time in a week that Chelsea have come from behind to walk away with a victory.
Surely few will laugh now.
“I hope that in time [the fans] “I'll say it's the best decision this club has made, but I can't focus on that,” Rosenior said after the game about his signing.
It was a game of two halves for Chelsea, who were undoubtedly terrible in the first 45 minutes. The fans let them know when referee Anthony Taylor blew the whistle, to loud boos at Stamford Bridge. West Ham deserved their two-goal lead: Jarrod Bowen's cross found the back of the net in the seventh minute, followed by a fine shot from Crysencio Summerville.
Alejandro Garnacho lost possession 12 times before being substituted at half-time. Liam Delap looked isolated and ineffective, touching the ball just eight times. The centre-back pairing of Benoît Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah seemed unstable, allowing plenty of opportunities. In any case, they were lucky to be only two goals down.
Rosenior had no qualms about changing things. Standing on the touchline in a smart coat, blue pants and white sneakers, he made three substitutions at halftime. He has gone on record to say that he is interested in early substitutions.
“If you look at my coaching record, I've always made early changes,” he said Friday.
“The same thing happened in Strasbourg. The players already understand with me that if they take you off at halftime it is a tactical question.”
Here, the three half-time substitutes paid off. He brought in defenders Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana, as well as striker João Pedro, and all three of Chelsea's goals came with one of the substitutes.
First, in the 57th minute, Fofana sent a perfectly floated cross to the far post for Pedro to head in. The second came 13 minutes later, when Cucurella reacted quicker to bounce off the crossbar and equalized with a diving header.
It was the first time in more than three years that two Chelsea substitutes scored in the same Premier League match.
In the end, it was Enzo Fernández who scored the winning goal in the second minute of added time. He arrived at the rival area at the right time to convert a pass from Pedro crossing the area.
When Rosenior replaced Enzo Maresca on Chelsea's touchline earlier this month, many greeted him with amusement rather than enthusiasm. Maresca had guided Chelsea to a top-four finish, won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup, and had been linked with replacing Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Rosenior's CV consisted of a stint as Wayne Rooney's assistant at Derby County, a semi-successful spell managing Hull City and a promising 18-month stay at Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg.
However, his record since taking over at Stamford Bridge speaks for itself. He is now enjoying a five-game winning streak and is off to the best start on paper since Maurizio Sarri in 2018.
“For a coach to arrive at the middle of the season without many sessions and achieve six wins in seven games is not a bad way to start,” added Rosenior.
“As long as the team shows the fight, the energy and the intensity that they showed in that second half, the fans will show that they will be with us and support us, and I really enjoy being part of this football club.”
He still has an element of respect to earn. He has been given a largely welcome run of games to start his career at Stamford Bridge: his only defeat, against Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals, was one of two games he has had against high-quality opposition.
Saturday's victory will set up their biggest test yet: the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal, in which they need to overturn a 3-2 deficit.
“Someone just told me that it's the first time in Premier League history that we've won from two goals down at home,” Rosenior said.
“It's something huge, seeing the heart, the mentality, the spirit of the group and its quality in the second half makes me a very, very happy man.”
