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Chelsea, as well as every other Premier League club, disappointed in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 this week
Liam Rosenior could be left no choice but to put all his eggs in one basket after Chelsea, and every other Premier League club, had a disappointing start to the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. Each of the five English teams failed to win the first leg of their respective last-16 ties, casting doubt on which nation will be granted an extra place in the European top flight next season.
On Tuesday night, Liverpool lost to Galatasaray, Atletico Madrid thrashed Tottenham Hotspur, and Barcelona held Newcastle United to a draw. Then, on Wednesday evening, Arsenal tied with Bayer Leverkusen before Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain stormed past Manchester City and Chelsea, respectively.
While everything is still to play for, with the second legs set to take place next week, England could take a hit on the UEFA coefficient table if the Premier League clubs fail to progress into the quarter-finals. As it stands, England still tops the charts by quite some distance, with Spain trailing in second.
They are closely followed by Germany and Italy in third and fourth, respectively. The rankings are based on how clubs from each country perform across each of the three European club competitions over the last five years.
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If England stays in the top two, the team that finishes fifth in the Premier League will qualify for next term's Champions League. Last season, Newcastle benefitted from the rule, squeezing into Europe's top-flight competition on goal difference.
While a Premier League club is likely to benefit from the rule again this year, English teams could very quickly lose the extra Champions League place if they fail to reach the quarter-finals. Unless their rivals manage to turn things around and go the distance, Chelsea are in danger of settling for the Europa League.
The Blues have a three-goal deficit to make up in the second leg of the last-16 against Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea are also hanging on to a place in the top five of the Premier League, with just goal difference separating them from Liverpool in sixth.
Although the west Londoners are by no means out of the Champions League, Rosenior may soon have to prioritise getting points on the board in the English top-flight. The 41-year-old, however, has no plans to roll over just yet.
Speaking to reporters in the French capital on Wednesday evening, Rosenior weighed up Chelsea's chances of progressing in the competition. He said: "Even at 4-2, because of the quality of chances we were creating from our build moments, from our possession moments, even at 4-2, saying it's not the best result for us at all, but we're still right in this at home at Stamford Bridge.
"The fifth goal, that's the painful, painful one. Yeah, it's something I really have to solve because we are very close, very close to being an outstanding team, but we have to overcome this hurdle yesterday to make sure that happens."
Rosenior continued: "I need us to maintain our calm in the moment when we have setbacks. This is on me. It's not a blame of the team. It's something that we've spoken about from my first day coming in, about reacting positively, about staying calm in moments and it's not happened.
"That's why it's on me. That's not pointing the finger of blame at the players. The intensity of our press, some of our football, some of the chances we created was outstanding.
"If we don't overcome this hurdle, we won't reach our potential and it's my job to find the answer to it."
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