Strasbourg joy, BlueCo trust and following Enzo Maresca: Why Liam Rosenior is perfect for Chelsea

As Liam Rosenior is the frontrunner to become Chelsea boss, and football.london takes a deep dive into why he would be the ideal next head coach for the west Londoners

It took longer than usual but Enzo Maresca staggered out of the Chelsea BlueCo machine dizzy, angry and perhaps confused as to how he now finds himself on the outside. November's Premier League manager of the month is now no longer a Premier League boss.

The official Blues statement thanked him for delivering the Europa Conference League and the impressive Club World Cup triumph, but sources believed to be from within the club briefed Sky Sports News the Italian lacked "mental fortitude and emotional maturity" - so much for those best wishes.

Perhaps, Maresca's mistake was over-estimating his influence at a club which has five different directors involved in recruitment.

His wish for a new central defender after Levi Colwill's season ending injury fell on five pairs of deaf ears, as did his purported demand for more experienced players.

Maresca's death knell proved to be his "worst 48 hours" comment after an otherwise unremarkable 2-0 home win over Everton.

Maresca may pore over his mistakes, on and off the pitch in west London, but his biggest one was mis-understanding the BlueCo beast.

Whatever your thoughts on the links identifying Liam Rosenior as the favourite to takeover as Chelsea head coach, one thing is all but guaranteed. Rosenior has been moulded in the BlueCo complex and will more than understand how it works.

If he is appointed, it would be easy for dissenters to label him a BlueCo 'yes man' considering he would arrive as a manager without Premier League experience, a track record of winning trophies or a history of working within the confines of Europe's elite clubs.

Maresca's credentials of working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City were often put forward before his Championship winning campaign with Leicester City, but the most high-profile boss Rosenior has worked under is Wayne Rooney.

Rosenior's work with Strasbourg has been excellent. Not long after his shock sacking by Hull City, Rosenior was announced as Patrick Vieira's replacement at the Ligue 1 side. He took them from 13th to 7th and despite the extra pressure of competing in the Europa Conference League, they remain in 7th and top the table in the latter.

The Blues have either loaned or sold 11 players to Strasbourg, the latter coming with the caveat of buy-back clauses. Players rated by the club as highly as Estevao: Kendry Paez, Mike Penders and Mamadou Sarr have performed well under Rosenior and would be reunited with him next summer, should he arrive at Stamford Bridge.

Strasbourg – who were held to a 1-1 draw by Nice in Ligue 1 on Saturday – may not be considered a European giant, but he has had to deal with the levels of noise associated with big clubs. He poured cold water over a brewing supporter base vs ownership battle triggered by the sale of club captain Emmanuel Emegha to Chelsea, without compromising the player and picking a battle with an already furious fan-base.

There have been frequent protests against the BlueCo consortium's multi-club ownership structure in Eastern France, but Rosenior has emerged from each one with credit on both sides of the battle lines.

Even in his recent press conference, he admitted there has been contact between him and Chelsea while also talking about the long-term aims of Strasbourg for the end of the campaign, tiptoeing the verbal minefield expertly.

Communication as one of his main strengths can be traced back to his days as a columnist for the Guardian, as well as the activism his father, former West Ham star Leroy Rosenior, is known for. Communication, man-management and instincts will be vital, but his tactical work also lends to BlueCo's apparent vision.

His philosophy and methods are not a huge pivot from Maresca. Rosenior also starts his teams in a 4-3-3 formation. Sometimes he will deploy a 3-4-3, but when his team has the ball, it evolves into a 3-2-5 formation, which was also a familiar sight in Maresca's Chelsea team.

Expect the Blues to still be brave when playing out of the back with extra emphasis focussed on Robert Sanchez - or maybe even Penders - being more involved with the ball at his feet. Strasbourg had the highest percentage of short passes in their own defensive third, designed to suck the opposition in before exploiting any spaces left behind.

When the ball is lost, do not expect to see any low blocks in Chelsea blue, as Strasbourg led the league in "pressing percentage". It will remain to be seen how this style of football would translate in the Premier League, should he be given the opportunity.

Rosenior would arrive as the 'head coach' instead of the manager, a distinction which looks unimportant at first, but is essential to understanding BlueCo's set-up. They want their head coaches to focus on the players at their disposal, the training sessions, the matches and the press conferences.

As was the case with Pochettino and Maresca, any desire for greater power in recruitment will likely be met with the exit door, but Rosenior may have more leverage than his predecessor combined. He is not an outsider brought into BlueCo, he is BlueCo through and through, a figure who understands the unusual intricacies of the model and the individuals within it.

If things go wrong for him, the blame will be dropped at the doors of the five directors, because if anything can be read into Rosenior's ability to manage up as well as down, it's that he will not be the one to cause the quarrel, if there is one. In a strange way, the Chelsea job is a free hit for Rosenior, who should walk in with his chest out and with the belief he can do something special at the club.