Published: 20:20, 4 January 2026 | Updated: 20:20, 4 January 2026

When Liam Rosenior takes over at Chelsea this week, he will inherit a club that sits 17 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal and is level-pegging with Manchester United in a struggle for the last place in the top five that is a contest between two of the three most dysfunctional clubs in the division. 

The other is West Ham. The top five does not concern them.

He will discover a club marshalled superbly by U21 coach Calum McFarlane in his caretaker role, a coach who will be able to say he was the equal of Guardiola on his first venture to a Premier League touchline.

He will find a team still coming to terms with the departure of Enzo Maresca in the wake of the departure last week, a man who left soon after getting ideas above his station. That is a condition that is a fatal flaw for Chelsea coaches.

He will find a team entitled to call itself World Champions but which, if it loses to Fulham in his...