Liam Rosenior's naivety epitomises BlueCo strategy as Chelsea system backfires

Cameron Smith

• 12 Mar 2026 09:24 GMT
• 8 min read

Analysis

Enzo Maresca’s spell as Chelsea boss was far from perfect, but there is very little chance his side would’ve conceded five goals at the Parc des Princes.

Liam Rosenior, on the other hand, was bold with his tactical set-up during Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 first-leg tie away to Paris Saint-Germain, and it backfired massively.

The Blues held their own for the majority of the affair, and looked threatening with virtually every attack they produced, but they were undone by 20 minutes of defensive frailty and they now have a mountain to climb in the second-leg following a 5-2 drubbing on Wednesday night.

As Strasbourg manager, Rosenior travelled to the Parc des Princes in October and his side earned a point after a thrilling 3-3 draw. As Chelsea manager, he once again attempted to go toe-to-toe with Luis Enrique’s side and it almost worked.

Current ETV

Enzo Fernández

M, DM (C)

Chelsea

Enzo Fernández

M, DM (C)

Chelsea

€82.3M

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€74M - €90.5M

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After 57 minutes, Enzo Fernandez guided the ball into the back of Matvey Safonov’s net, following excellent wing play from Pedro Neto, and the tie was all square once again.

Then, in the blink of an eye it was 5-2 as the Blues shot themselves in the foot to leave the quarter-finals almost beyond reach.

Liam Rosenior epitomises Chelsea’s strategy under BlueCo

Last Wednesday, Chelsea romped to a 4-1 win over Aston Villa, arguably their best victory of the Rosenior era. One week later, their first Champions League campaign since 2022-23 is all but over.

In many respects, the two games followed a similar pattern. Both featured two teams who adopted a man-to-man pressing scheme with a high defensive line aimed at winning passion in the final third. Both matches were also extremely end-to-end, with space aplenty all over the pitch, and they were both an exciting watch for any neutrals.

In one game, Chelsea’s blushes were spared by wayward finishing from Ollie Watkins. In the other, they were punished by Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Two very similar games, but with two very different end results. And it leaves Chelsea on the verge of a last-16 exit.

After the win over Aston Villa, spirits were high in the Chelsea camp and for good reason. They had produced an immense away performance against a rival for Champions League football and were a step closer to qualifying for next season’s competition.

After adopting a similar system against PSG, the Blues have hit the first true low point of the Rosenior era. And it could’ve been so different.

On one hand, Rosenior deserves credit for implementing a system that saw Chelsea match the reigning European champions for the majority of the game, but there is a risk vs reward element to two-legged knockout ties and he leaned far too heavily on the former in Paris.

You can’t win a Champions League tie in the first-leg, however you can certainly lose it. Despite this, Chelsea seemed to disregard the fact there is a second-leg to come next Tuesday.

After Vitinha netted PSG’s third goal of the evening, an astute manager with slightly more experience at the top level may have shut up shop and opted to deploy a reserved system designed to keep the tie at a one-goal deficit.

Rosenior and Chelsea did no such thing. They continued to press aggressively and as they tired, gaps started to appear more frequently. Aston Villa may not have punished Chelsea in such scenarios, but PSG certainly did.

After Reece James dawdled in possession and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia curled a sublime effort beyond Filip Jorgensen in the 86th minute, that was certainly the moment to accept a two-goal deficit and go again.

But, Chelsea left themselves open once again as they attempted a foolish high press in the last minute of stoppage time. After neat play down the right flank from PSG, they carved open Rosenior’s side to create a four-vs-two overload that eventually led to Kvaratskhelia squirming a fairly tame shot underneath Jorgensen to make it 5-2.

It was a brave man-to-man system and when it worked, Chelsea were incredibly dangerous in attack. When it didn’t, they were exposed. In a two-legged tie against one of the best forward lines in world football, is that risk really worth it?

The end scoreline suggests not.

Rosenior is less than four years into his journey as a head coach and it’s little surprise that he isn’t the finished article. In a sense, he epitomises Chelsea’s strategy under the BlueCo ownership: banking on potential rather than prioritising proven experience.

It’s a plan that could reap significant rewards in the future, but it won’t lead to Champions League success in 2025-26 unless Chelsea can produce a historic comeback at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

The Filip Jorgensen gamble backfires

In addition to insisting on an aggressive pressing scheme, Rosenior also opted to start the aforementioned Jorgensen over Robert Sanchez. It was a decision that ultimately didn’t pay off.

The Denmark international is undoubtedly composed in possession and there were a number of occasions in which Chelsea evaded the PSG press thanks to his calmness on the ball.

However, an outfield player is never perfect when passing forward and it’s therefore foolish to expect a goalkeeper to be. But, when a goalkeeper gives away possession, it’s often catastrophic - as shown on Wednesday night when a sloppy Jorgensen error resulted in Vitinha putting PSG 3-2 up.

From a commanding position, Chelsea were behind again and they never recovered. Kvaratskhelia soon made it 4-2, before he grabbed his second in stoppage time, with Jorgensen’s underwhelming shot-stopping ability coming to the fore.

Once again, in a risk vs reward scenario at the Parc des Princes, Rosenior urged his goalkeeper to be brave in possession and it was simply a matter of time before it ended in a PSG goal.

This isn’t a new phenomenon either. During Strasbourg’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace earlier this season, with Rosenior in the dugout, Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton both hit the woodwork from open-goal situations after goalkeeper Mike Penders was caught out of position.

This is simply Rosenior’s style. He wants to use his goalkeeper to create a numerical advantage in possession, with the intention of eventually advancing up the pitch to create chances.

When it doesn’t work, however, it leads to a huge blunder and Chelsea paid the price for it on Wednesday.

The Blues aren’t totally dead and buried in the tie, but Rosenior’s side will arguably need to be even more gung-ho on Tuesday and that could play perfectly into PSG’s hands, who will relish the space they could be afforded on the counter-attack.

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