Liam Rosenior moved quickly to calm concerns about the fitness of Cole Palmer and Reece James after his first match in charge, a cup victory at Charlton on Saturday.

Rosenior named a heavily rotated side for the tie, handing starts to Jamie Gittens, Marc Guiu, Alejandro Garncho, Facundo Buonanotte, Andrey Santos, Jorrel Hato, Josh Acheampong and Filip Jörgensen. There was, however, no place in the matchday squad for Palmer, James or Malo Gusto.

“Malo, Cole and Reece were precautionary today,” Rosenior explained after the win.

The manager, who took over following a spell with Strasbourg, said he did not want to jeopardise the players’ availability as the season reaches a congested period. “I don’t want to take any risks at this stage of the season. They had minor tweaks or knocks from the Fulham game. And I feel like I’ve got such a good squad here. I don’t need to risk their health at the moment,” he added.

Rosenior indicated the decision to rest key players was partly about preparation for the next fixtures. Chelsea travel to the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal on Wednesday, a tie Rosenior described as an opportunity to secure a place in the club’s first major final of the season.

After that comes a Premier League match at home to Brentford on Saturday. The Bees sit fifth in the table, two points ahead of Chelsea in eighth, having taken 14 from the last 18 available to them. That run makes the weekend fixture an important step in Chelsea’s pursuit of a top four finish.

“We have a huge game on Wednesday, we have a huge game on Saturday,” Rosenior pointed out, underlining the compressed schedule and the rationale for managing minutes in the cup victory at Charlton.

For now, the manager has framed the absences as precautionary and part of a wider plan to protect key players for the challenges ahead.

Manchester United remain undecided over who will lead the senior team for the remainder of the 2025/26 season following last week’s dismissal of Ruben Amorim. Ole Gunnar Solskjær, currently listed as the club’s U18s manager, is among those being considered for a more formal interim role until a permanent appointment is made in the summer. A potential complication for his case is a lack of clarity over which coaches would form his backroom team.

Other internal and former figures are also under consideration. Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy are on the list, with Carrick having been the first to hold a face-to-face meeting with senior staff. Solskjær followed suit on Saturday. Van Nistelrooy has not yet met the hierarchy. ESPN notes that Fletcher has impressed the club hierarchy, while Van Nistelrooy is said to believe he features lower down the list of options.

The question of support staff is acute given Solskjær’s recent managerial path. His last Manchester United support team included Mike Phelan, Kieran McKenna and Carrick. He inherited McKenna and Carrick and later brought Phelan back. McKenna is now a manager in his own right, and it is unclear whether Carrick would accept a return to a support role.

Amorim’s entire coaching team were sacked alongside him and are likely to remain aligned with the Portuguese coach in whatever role he takes next. That continuity contrasts with Solskjær’s more fragmented coaching links since leaving Old Trafford in 2021. His brief spell at Beşiktaş was his only managerial job since that departure, and in Türkiye he reunited with Erling Moe, his former Molde assistant from eight years earlier. Moe did not follow Solskjær to Manchester in 2018 and instead replaced him at Molde.

Given those circumstances, the club faces a familiar choice between short-term stability and a broader search. At present, who would be available and willing to form a Solskjær backroom remains unclear.

Arsenal have taken an unusual step to refine a specific area of play as they chase marginal gains that could decide the title. The club already benefits from a recognised set-piece specialist, with Nicolas Jover credited for an outstanding corners return. Arsenal have scored 14 goals from corners, the leading mark in the Premier League so far this season, and the club wants to build on that advantage.

According to The Times, the Gunners have engaged Thomas Grønnemark on a consultancy basis. The 50-year-old is best known for his work with Liverpool but has also worked with Borussia Dortmund and Ajax. Mikel Arteta’s side hope Grønnemark can help “weaponise” throw-ins and provide the extra edge required to deliver the club a first Premier League title in 22 years come May.

Long throws and a more physical edge are again prominent in the English game, 15 years on from Rory Delap and Stoke City. Grønnemark was a former long-throw world record holder during his playing career, and his methods extend beyond pure distance.

Grønnemark has been credited with clear improvements at the clubs he has advised. He described his impact at Liverpool to BBC Radio Merseyside in 2024: “When I came, data showed that Liverpool were 18th in the Premier League for throw-ins under pressure,” he explained. “In my first season, we improved from 45.4% to 68.4% and went from 18th to number one.

“People might think it’s only throw-ins, but there’s approximately 40 to 60 throw-ins in a match and they use up 20 minutes. It’s a gigantic thing in football. People have been neglecting this for many years.”

His recent work with Brentford has been visible in results. The Bees have scored nine Premier League goals from long throws since the start of last season, leading the division, with four each from Manchester United and Bournemouth the next best.

Posting on X in December 2025 as @ThomasThrowin, Grønnemark outlined his approach. “I work with throw-in tools,” he said “Throw-in basic training, throw-in small sided games, [teach] the players to scan, make the right types and length of run, reading the opponents defending pattern, use individual throw-in supers powers, throw-in sequences, unlimited space creation and much more. ]”