Chelsea have appointed Liam Rosenior to replace the frustrated Enzo Maresca. Rosenior arrives with a reputation for high-intensity, energy-first football and a preference for a 3-4-2-1 shape he employed at Strasbourg. Early flexibility will be important as he adapts that system to a large, unsettled squad.<\/p>\n
One immediate tactical implication is for Est\u00eav\u00e3o. Though the 18-year-old has often been used on the right wing since his arrival at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea reportedly view him as an attacking midfielder long term. Under Maresca he was more often an impact substitute than a regular starter. Rosenior\u2019s fluid 3-4-2-1 could increase Est\u00eav\u00e3o\u2019s minutes in a second attacking midfield role alongside Cole Palmer, though he would likely need to share time with Jo\u00e3o Pedro and Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n
The No. 9 position may also be open. Jo\u00e3o Pedro has operated there this term but is not an out-and-out centre forward and could be better suited to an attacking midfield role. Rosenior knows Liam Delap well: he signed Delap at Hull and the striker thrived on loan from Manchester City, scoring eight goals and adding two assists in the Championship at the MKM Stadium. Delap has the physical traits of a traditional striker and did his chances no harm by scoring against Fulham with Rosenior in the stands watching.<\/p>\n
Andrey Santos is another player with an existing Rosenior connection. The Brazilian played 34 games for Rosenior in 2024\u201325, scoring 11 goals and providing four assists. Santos has started just five Premier League games this term and one in Europe, but a congested schedule could give Rosenior reason to use him more often.<\/p>\n
Goalkeeping is a further area for review. Robert S\u00e1nchez has improved but remains unconvincing, while Filip J\u00f6rgensen has not inspired. Mike Penders, on loan at Strasbourg from Chelsea, has been the French side\u2019s starting keeper under Rosenior this season and impressed in his first campaign in a top-five league. Rosenior has seen Penders\u2019 development first hand and may offer him an opportunity next season.<\/p>\n
Reece James appears safe in the XI but could be shifted to wing back, a demanding role that risks aggravating his injury history. The Rosenior system does not favour natural wingers, so wide players who prefer hugging the touchline, such as Alejandro Garnacho, or those lacking defensive discipline face a difficult path. Jamie Gittens has struggled to find the polish and technical edge to displace established wide options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rosenior’s Chelsea arrival will reshuffle roles: Delap, Est\u00eav\u00e3o, Santos and Penders stand to gain in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,1383],"tags":[944,1087,319],"class_list":["post-5857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-chelsea-news","tag-andrey-santos","tag-coaching-change","tag-cole-palmer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}