Jamie Carragher has questioned whether Liam Rosenior has ‘the strength’ to be Chelsea manager and said the Englishman doesn’t ‘look right’ in the job.
The 41-year-old was installed in the Stamford Bridge hotseat last month after the departure of Enzo Maresca, and has won seven out of his 10 games in charge to date.
However, Rosenior’s outspoken personality has been a talking point – and at times ridiculed – since he arrived from RC Strasbourg, with many online making memes from his press conference musings.
And Carragher, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate brought to you by Sky Bet, has joined those questioning whether the Blues boss has the steel for the job.
‘There is something about (Rosenior) when you see him in the press conferences,’ the Liverpool legend explained.
‘I don’t know if it’s a bit of an act, to sort of play to be the big manager, but if you remember when Graham Potter was there… it never felt like the right fit. It never felt like he had the personality or the strength to manage a club like that.
Jamie Carragher has questioned whether Liam Rosenior has ‘the strength’ to be Chelsea boss
Rosenior took the Stamford Bridge hotseat last month and has won seven out of his 10 games
‘I was wondering if it would be almost the same. You know when you just look at someone and it doesn’t look right.
‘Whether it’s an act or it’s his own self belief, it doesn’t feel like I’m looking at this guy who is weak – we don’t know if he’s good enough yet. We’ll see over the years.’
Wayne Rooney, who joined Carragher on the panel and worked with Rosenior during his time as Derby County boss, questioned his fellow pundit on whether he was being judged harshly because he is British.
‘It’s because we know them,’ Carragher responded. ‘When you bring a guy from abroad, there’s always this mystique about them. We don’t know the failures, we haven’t seen them struggle.’
But, Rooney interjected: ‘That’s the thing with Liam, you know him, but you don’t know him. You know his name, you know he’s played for Hull and Brighton and teams like that, so he’s had a career in England.
‘So now (fans) are looking at him saying, “Is he putting this on, is he trying to be the big man?”. Actually he is being himself.’
Rooney’s tone is similar to that of legendary Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, who exclusively told Daily Mail Sport last week that there should be less of a focus on what Rosenior says, and more on the results he is getting.
‘What I would say about Liam is that we should all stop talking about what he’s said and concentrate on what his team is doing,’ he said.
Wayne Rooney suggested Rosenior’s words are more harshly judged because he is English
Joe Cole struck a similar tone to Rooney when talking about Rosenior with Daily Mail Sport
‘As a manager, you’ve got no interest in doing press conferences and answering questions. It’s an obligation of the job. He could say something and thousands of people will pick the bones out of it and have an opinion. But ultimately the test is how his team are doing.’
The 44-year-old, who works as a pundit for TNT Sports and one day wants to be a manager in his own right, also believes foreign coaches get an easier ride regarding what they say.
‘When (they are) speaking broken English, they just say what they say and it comes out in a generic way… so nobody really picks the bones out of it,’ the former England international said.
‘But because of all the nuances of language and what you know about your own culture, it is very difficult for an English manager to express themselves.
‘I think any other manager who speaks a different language will turn up and speak and that’s not part of it. But with an English manager, one word out of step or a joke that falls flat in a press conference – I think sometimes we jump on what they do or say.
‘It’s almost irrelevant to a certain degree. The body of work is the football, the game.’
Rosenior’s only losses so far have come against Arsenal over two legs in the Carabao Cup semi-final, with the other game Chelsea failed to win under his tutelage coming in a 2-2 Premier League draw with Leeds.
Chelsea are back in action on Saturday against Burnley, with victory propelling the Blues into fourth-place before Manchester United play Everton the following Monday.
