Liam Rosenior won his first game in charge of Chelsea, progressing to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 5-1 victory over Charlton at the weekend.
The new Blues coach is coming in at a critical stage, with his first four games in charge being in all four different competitions, including an EFL Cup semi-final against London rivals, Arsenal.
Chelsea currently sit eighth in the Premier League with 31 points after 21 games, but only four points separate themselves and fourth-placed Liverpool, so picking up momentum could be crucial at this stage of the season.
As with any new manager, the biggest questions right now for Rosenior are who is he going to favour in his starting XI, who could have new roles and how he will profile players different to Enzo Maresca.
In this article, we’ll cover
The Reece James conundrum
One of the biggest questions for Chelsea fans right now is how Rosenior will use the club captain, as Reece James played multiple roles under Maresca.
Under Thomas Tuchel, James was seen as one of the best attacking right-backs in the world, playing as a wing-back and bombing forwards to get involved in the final third.
However, due to his injury troubles over the past few years, the management and therefore usage of James has changed, opting to utilise him in midfield zones, limiting his high intensity sprints up and down the touchline.
With how Rosenior likes to set his side up, the roles of the full-backs are important, as one will often tuck in to form a temporary back three, while the other pushes high to provide width, or even sometimes plays as a number 10.
James has the quality and capacity to execute any of this roles, but the decision will likely be made based on his fitness and the best possible way to keep him fit.
Therefore, either starting in a fixed double pivot alongside Moises Caicedo or being the right-back who tucks into a back three as a right central-defender, could be the best ways to utilise James with minimal risk.
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Marc Cucurella vs Jorrel Hato
The next dilemma will be the battle for the left-back position, as Marc Cucurella was suspended against Charlton, we saw Jorrel Hato starting at left-back, inverting into the left number 10 role on the ball.
Hato is someone who struggled for consistent minutes under Maresca, and Rosenior has hinted himself that there could be some in-house solutions, stating “I also think sometimes the answers lie within the building and not outside”.
Technical quality on the ball is important for a Rosenior side, as his side look to build out from the back under pressure, baiting the opposition to step up before attacking quickly into space.
When playing as the deeper full-back option, joining the back three, Hato perhaps has some qualities over Cucurella in this regard, averaging more passes completed in his own half per 90 minutes and having a little more bravery to play those line-breaking passes.
However, Cucurella is one of the more experienced members of the squad, who can occupy multiple positions on the left, who has also shown a knack for arriving in dangerous areas in the final third, creating 1.3 chances per 90 (more than Hato’s 0.8 per 90).
Both defenders have some really good defensive traits, with Hato possessing exceptional recovery speed, while Cucurella thrives in 1v1 defending situations due to his intensity.
Enzo Fernandez new role?
Enzo Fernandez is one of those players who splits opinion, often at the forefront of these discussions on how a manager can best utilise the £100m man.
Under Maresca, Fernandez had a key role starting in the pivot alongside Caicedo, before pushing into the left half space to become a fifth attacker, crashing the box and getting on the end of crosses.
This role has seen Fernandez generate the most expected goals for Chelsea in the Premier League so far this season with 7.81 xG, also taking the most shots for Chelsea so far this season with 41.
In Rosenior’s first game in charge, Fernandez came from the bench to play as a number 10, occupying the right half space and combining nicely with Estevao on the right.
However, the Chelsea manager’s usage of Valentin Barco at Strasbourg could suggest Fernandez playing in a deeper role, being given license to dictate games from deep and kickstart attacks with clever passes between the lines.
Rosenior will have to find the correct balance to protect Fernandez in deeper areas, keeping the physicality levels of the team high and not compromising their ability to compete in duels.
Pedro Neto vs Jamie Gittens
The next position that is really interesting is that left-wing spot under Rosenior, which dependent on pressing structure, could hold a fair bit of out of possession responsibility.
With the right-hand side likely to be constructed with an attacking full-back (e.g. Malo Gusto) and a right-winger tucking inside (e.g. Cole Palmer or Estevao), the balance when Rosenior wants to drop into a more defensive 5-2-3 block will often mean the role of the left-winger is key.
At Strasbourg, Diego Moreira who was a winger before arriving in France, took up a hybrid role under Rosenior where he still attacked as the touchline winger, but had added defensive responsibilities, which he adapted to very well.
Pedro Neto is an interesting one, because under Maresca, he was often in a high volume of 1v1 situations, failing to make the most of them and often resorting to the same types of crosses with little variation, making him more predictable.
Jamie Gittens is an exciting winger, who when confident, loves to go 1v1 and make things happen in a direct fashion, already shown by his 2.7 take-ons completed per 90 metric, compared to Neto’s 1.6 per 90.
While Gittens actually ranks better in most defensive metrics, it’s the understanding of out of possession responsibility that Neto has ahead of him, which will likely be the main reason the Portugal winger is seen as a starter under Rosenior.
However, over time this could be an interesting battle, as Gittens can improve those pressing instincts, while Neto could streamline his game, in order to take fewer needless touches and play to his strengths via early crosses and shots.
Striker battle
The final position we are going to discuss is centre-forward, as Rosenior has the options of Liam Delap whom he has worked with before, but also Joao Pedro, who offers a slighty different profile.
At Strasbourg, Rosenior used Joaquin Panichelli who he described as an old school centre-forward, who makes a high volume of clever runs, looks to battle with central defenders and has that nose for goal in and around the box.
Delap has shown in his last few Chelsea appearances signs of this, running the channels, looking to occupy defenders and get shots off inside the box.
On the other hand, Rosenior now has Pedro as a different type of option, one who can drop in and get involved in the build up, while still having physical qualities at the top end of the pitch to hold it up and bring others into play.
Pedro is more of a hybrid player, which begs the question of whether Rosenior will use him in a multitude of roles, including centre-forward, but also behind in the pocket, looking to maximise his close proximity combination play and carrying qualities.
All of these questions will be answered in the coming weeks, but this is absolutely a chance for Chelsea players to establish themselves as key components for Rosenior moving forwards.