LIAM Rosenior’s first two games as manager of Chelsea Football Club are now history.
From them, he has one win and one loss, firstly beating Charlton 5-1 in the FA Cup, followed by a 3-2 defeat in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg to Arsenal.
However, whilst the results and tactical tweaks haven’t been very striking, reports of activities on the training ground have been the biggest change.
Former boss Enzo Maresca was believed to have had a good relationship with most of the players, notably Robert Sanchez and Enzo Fernandez, with the latter reportedly disturbed by his exit.
Rosenior has looked to impose his own techniques within the group in a bid to create his own relationships, as reported by Kieran Gill.
This was announced to the group upon his arrival at Cobham, when he praised what they had achieved, explained his system was not a million miles away from his predecessor’s and how highly he values human connections.
Firstly, to try and stop the flu outbreak that ruled Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens out of the Arsenal clash and had spread to background staff, the 41-year-old held a meeting on the importance of hand washing to combat infections.
Lego sets have now been introduced inside the training facilities, seen as a light-hearted way to connect off the field, although this has not taken place yet due to a busy first week.
Furthermore, the Englishman opts not to wear gloves when coaching on the sidelines of the training sessions, so that players can hear his applause when he sees something he likes.
Finally, he has many one-to-one discussions with the players to get their thoughts on his tactical plans, explain his decision making, plus create mutual respect.
The best example of this was his discussion with Wesley Fofana, where he asked the Frenchman for his opinion on Rosenior’s idea for him to go man-to-man on Odegaard.
The Blues take to the pitch on Saturday afternoon against Brentford in the manager’s first Premier League test.