THE FUSE

Rosenior began work at Chelsea on January 6 - a day after Amorim was relieved of his duties - and has already given numerous in-depth interviews where he has felt compelled to lay out his way of working, explain his tactical blueprint and defend his relative inexperience in top-level management, having only previously been in charge at Derby County, Hull City and, most recently, BlueCo-owned Strasbourg. Albeit he has stressed that he should let results do the talking, pundit and former Manchester City defender Micah Richards believes Rosenior might be speaking "a little bit too much". On the pitch, Rosenior has guided Chelsea to a comfortable FA Cup third-round victory at Charlton before a battling defeat to rivals Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals on his home debut.

Richards said on The Rest is Football podcast: "I think he's buying too much into the media with his interviews. I think he's saying a little bit too much. And I feel like he needs to be careful. I think he's saying all the right things. I think he's articulate, but I think he’s overexplaining himself, which then leaves always a question for the media when it comes to games.

"I think Amorim did similar. He was really good in interviews, almost give you too much to go out, and then you're always thinking, hanging on every word and thinking, 'Oh, he said that last time. Well, I’ll see how they d'. He said something like he knows he's a good manager, which we all think he's a good manager, you know, up-and-coming manager. But these are all things that could come against you when things are not going well. So I feel like he knows how to work it, but I just, I think he's been quite naive when it comes to it."

While he has their support for now, the majority of Chelsea fans will take some convincing that Rosenior is the right man for the job given his lack of experience at the highest level, and while his forthrightness with the media is refreshing, he will need early results to match his confidence. The 41-year-old has already drawn ridicule from certain sections of the fanbase after it was revealed that he hasn't been wearing gloves during training sessions to ensure his players can hear him clapping them, with some describing him as a "LinkedIn manager".

Rosenior spoke at length again in a press conference on Friday, saying: "I think every manager would love patience. If that's a reality, that's not down to me. For me, I just want us to focus on the now. Like I keep saying, we have to be the best team we can be in this moment. I have to go after certain things because I don't have training time. The team are recovering today. I have probably half an hour, in terms of the physical load, tomorrow to work on things and patterns in training. But there are other things I can go after, in terms of what we look like, what we stand for as a group. And with the players I have here, I think we can make meaningful progress, as you say, in a short space of time."

Charlton Athletic v Chelsea - Emirates FA Cup Third Round

Rosenior faces a stern test of his credentials in his first Premier League game in charge when Chelsea welcome high-flying Brentford on Saturday afternoon. The Bees have become something of a bogey team for their west London rivals, with the Blues triumphing just once in their last eight meetings - an impressive record that began with a thumping 4-1 victory at Stamford Bridge in 2022. If he can secure a rare win for Chelsea, it will be the perfect way to kick off his career in the English top flight.