3 days ago
9
Liam Rosenior is closing in on becoming the next Chelsea head coach - and former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney has delivered his verdict on the proposed appointment
Former Manchester United and England forward Wayne Rooney has backed Liam Rosenior to succeed if he is appointed as Chelsea's next head coach.
Rosenior, who worked as Rooney's assistant manager during his time at Derby County, is in London and expected to be named as Enzo Maresca's replacement at Stamford Bridge.
The 41-year-old has spent the last 18 months at Chelsea's BlueCo sister club, Strasbourg, and he has made quite the impression in France, winning 31 and drawing 15 of his 63 matches there.
"Liam was so important for me. He was incredible in his coaching ability. I was more of the manager and dealing with players and everything," Rooney said on his BBC podcast The Wayne Rooney show.
"His detail, how he approaches the day-to-day, he's as good as I've worked with. So I learned a lot from him from that point of view and then I think he's done a great job as a whole."
Rosenior's first taste of senior management was replacing Rooney as Derby's interim head coach in June 2022. The 41-year-old took charge of just 12 matches before leaving the Rams and joining Hull City.
He spent 19 months at the MKM Stadium before he was sacked and then appointed as Strasbourg's new head coach following Patrick Viera's dismissal. The former Brighton and Fulham defender guided the BlueCo club to a seventh-place finish during the 2024/25 season, qualifying for the Conference League.
Strasbourg sit seventh in the Ligue 1 table after picking up 24 points from their opening 17 matches. As well as this, the French outfit topped the Conference League with five wins and one draw from six games.
"He's also got a side which you don't want to cross him as well," he said. "That's important as well. If he goes in there, he won't disappoint. He's been waiting for an opportunity like this.
"If you don't take it now, then you're never going to take it. And I think he's done his apprenticeship, he's done his work to try and get to that job.
"So he'll have no doubts in his mind that he's capable of doing that job. And hopefully, very soon, hopefully we hear that he is the manager, because for young English coaches I think it's massive.
"We don't really see English managers at big clubs. So he'd be leading the way for for us."
Maresca was sacked as Chelsea's head coach on New Year's Day following a breakdown in relations with the club's board. Calum McFarlane was put in interim charge for Sunday's trip to Manchester City. The Blues are next in action when they make the short trip across London to face Fulham at Craven Cottage.
English (US) ·