Liam Rosenior’s post-match interview lambasting his Chelsea side for their ‘unacceptable’ and ‘indefensible’ 3-0 defeat at Brighton was extraordinary viewing on Tuesday night.
The manager has presided over a horrendous run of form – losing their last five Premier League games without scoring.
And the capitulation at the Amex saw Rosenior come out and attack his own players for the first time in a raw post-match interview.
Body language expert, Darren Stanton, cast his eye over the Sky Sports interview and revealed what he picked up from Rosenior.
He told OLBG: ‘Liam Rosenior is deeply frustrated. There’s moments in the post-match interview after the Brighton defeat where he looks like he’s pouting his lips, that’s not pouting his lips, that’s anger. It’s suppressed anger.
‘There’s worry lines on his forehead so he wants to kick off where he’s said that the players were unprofessional. I think Rosenior is a decent guy because he gives the players accountability and he says that both the players and himself need to look in the mirror so he’s accepted personal responsibility but he’s not a happy guy at all.
Liam Rosenior’s post-match interview after Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Tuesday has been studied by a body language expert
‘I don’t see any anxiety signs in that he doesn’t think he’s on the way out but it’s going to be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out with him.’
He continued: ‘Right now, I don’t think he feels like he’s in the departure lounge at Chelsea. I don’t see that level of stress in his body language but he kept his head down for most of the interview so I think he’s responding to his gut instinct and the overriding emotion is disappointment and anger.
‘Rosenior wants to be seen that he’s doing well so I think that’s where the anger and frustration is coming from.’
Rosenior did not hold back after the match as he warned ‘drastic’ changes were needed, told his players they needed to ‘look in the mirror’ and accused them of lacking professionalism in a brutal public takedown of his own team.
‘That was unacceptable in every aspect of the game,’ he said. ‘I’m hurting and I feel numb.
‘The attitude was unacceptable. I keep coming out and defending the players but that performance tonight is indefensible.
‘The manner of the goals we conceded, the amount of duels that we lost, the lack of intensity in the team… something needs to change drastically here right now.
‘I am accountable, I’ve always said that, but after tonight, I think the players as well need to have a look in the mirror for what they put in. You can talk about tactics, tactics come after the basics.
‘I can’t keep coming out here and defending some of the things that we are seeing.
Rosenior went over to the travelling fans and appeared to apologise after full-time
‘Against Manchester United, the results weren’t there but I felt like we’d turned a corner but the general attitude, spirit and determination was lacking, apart from maybe three or four of the 11. That is nowhere near enough for this club.
‘It’s nowhere near enough. I can’t come out and lie. I’ll come out and tell the truth and that was unacceptable in every area.’
He added: ‘We can speak about a lack of confidence or results not going our way but that does not represent anything that I want to see and I won’t ever see it again.
‘The performance in terms of professionalism wasn’t there. It was a really, really difficult night – the most difficult night so far [for me] at this magnificent football club but also in my career because some of the things I was witnessing today I never want to see again.’
Rosenior is under massive pressure and the slump in form appears to have effectively ended any hopes of Champions League qualification.
The Blues are now seventh in the table and could even end up missing out on European qualification altogether.
Fan sentiment at Stamford Bridge has turned on the ownership, with a number of protests over the last month.
But there are many questioning whether Rosenior will see out the rest of the campaign, with a huge FA Cup semi-final against Leeds this weekend next on the agenda.
One man backing Rosenior is his former Reading team-mate, Shane Long, who described the manager as a ‘football obsessive’.
Enzo Fernandez gestures to fans with a shrug after the fifth Premier League defeat in a row
The Irishman told Midnite: ‘It started off really well for Liam. He came in and really settled the club, got them playing good football, got a few good results, and I think they lost to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semifinal in his early days, but it was a good performance. You could take a loss like that, but lately it’s kind of gone off the boil a bit. Chelsea have been very sloppy, conceding goals.
‘I think it’d be only right to give Liam a transfer window, though, to bring in the players he wants for the style of football he plays and see what he can do at the start of next season.’
Long continued: ‘He’s done well in Strasbourg. I know him, he’s obsessed by football, he is 24/7 football. He’d be first in, last out, he’d be at home going to sleep thinking about formations. He’s that sort of person, so it’s not for the lack of effort or lack of love for the game. He really wants to improve, and you can tell that he has that young attitude towards the game, which a lot of clubs want as well, a breath of fresh air and Liam has that.
‘I think it’s only fair to give him a transfer window to start off next season, see how they start off, probably build on the defence a little bit, shore up sharp at the back, and build from there.
‘It’s tough for any manager to come into the Premier League, come into a massive team like Chelsea, but when you’re young and find your feet in the game and get excited about the future, you want to be given that extra bit of benefit.’
