Having so many capable wingers at his disposal, it must be difficult for Liam Rosenior to keep them all happy. Although the Chelsea head coach insists doing so is “impossible”.
The immediate reaction to that is to wonder why Rosenior would make such a stark admission publicly, but his explanation made plenty of sense as he outlined how he sees the challenge of managing minutes and expectations.
“I don’t think happy is the word,” he said on Friday. “I’d say ‘engaged’, and believing in what you do.
“No player should be happy when they are not playing. It’s impossible; if you are a footballer and happy to sit on the bench, you are in the wrong job. It’s not about keeping players happy. It’s about them understanding that sometimes the minutes they sacrifice for their mate to play helps the team and helps their career.”
That very sentiment played out in Naples in midweek, when Jamie Gittens was a second-half substitute but then had to suffer the ignominy, and perhaps humiliation, of being substituted himself as the clock approached the 90th minute.
Benoit Badiashile came on in his place, Rosenior later explaining he needed another centre-back on the pitch to close out the 3-2 victory now that “big [Romelu] Lukaku” had been thrown on by Antonio Conte.
Gittens had done nothing wrong but was being sacrificed for the team.
Rosenior will have similar difficult calls to make this evening when Gittens, Estevao, Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto will all want meaningful game time at Stamford Bridge against West Ham.
Not all of them will get what they want, but Rosenior hopes those who play less or not at all are still “engaged” by the time they are back in training ahead of Arsenal in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
If you are a footballer and happy to sit on the bench, you are in the wrong job
Neto was taken off in favour of Cole Palmer at half-time against Napoli, but, again, the Chelsea head coach wants the Portuguese not to view it as an embarrassment.
“If you look at my managerial history, I’ve always made early changes,” he said. “At Strasbourg it was the same. The players already understand with me that, if you’re taken off at half time, it’s tactical.
“Pedro had two outstanding moments in the first half: a great cross for Joao Pedro and he showed a ridiculous amount of speed in a transition moment that we nearly scored from.
“He didn’t have a bad game, but I made a tactical change. The players need to understand very quickly with me that I will keep doing that.”
