One on One | Liam Rosenior on proving himself at Chelsea

0:01Chelsea are a huge club and I know a lot of questions are being asked of my CV and my playing career and my reputation so I want to prove that I'm worthy of this amazing privilege that I have to be head coach of Chelsea Football Cup. Who would have said that me from Wandsworth with the playing career that I've had in CV that I've had ends up as head coach at Chelsea you have to give people a chance otherwise what's the point? The fans when they come to see us play we might win games we're probably going to lose some games along the way but they can come out of the stadium they can say those 11 players they gave everything in the moment And I think if I can work towards that, then opinions or whether I deserve the job or whether I'm experienced enough or whether I'm good enough, it's nice.

0:47Hello and welcome back to One on One from Sky Sports. It's the podcast where we chat to some of the Premier League's biggest names. I'm Juliet Farrington. and if you're a regular listener to the pod, you'll know that it was just around about two weeks ago that Joe was at Chelsea's training ground chatting to Pedro Neto about Enzo Maresca's shock departure as head coach. Well, this week I got to speak to the person who replaced him and that man is Liam Rossini, who moved from Strasbourg to Stamford Bridge. Rossini was in good form despite the whirlwind week he's just had. He loves to talk. He says he knows there'll be ups and downs along the way, but obviously really happy to have been given this chance to prove himself.

1:28And as you'll hear, Rosinia defends his CV and is certainly ready for the challenge ahead with this new job. He got his Chelsea career off to the perfect start, beating Charlton in the FA Cup. And on Wednesday night, he has the chance to take his new side to the League Cup final if he gets past Arsenal and Mikel Arteta in the first home game in charge of the first of a two-legged semi-final tie. So this is my one-on-one with Liam Rosinia.

1:59Liam, talk to us about your first week. It's been a seismic week, a lot going on. How have you enjoyed it? Loved it. Loved it. I have to say the staff, the players have made me feel so welcome with my staff. It has been a whirlwind, you know, getting off the plane at Strasbourg and I literally came straight to the training ground to meet the players. but I have to say so far their engagement, their enthusiasm, their work ethic and just how they've been as human beings has been top. I've enjoyed every moment and yeah, I'm looking forward to a lot of games to come in the near future. Have you managed to catch your breath yet?

2:33I had a good night's sleep the last two nights, especially after winning your first game which is a great thing to do no matter those FA Cup games away at Charlton. That's a really, really difficult game. I thought the players acquitted themselves really, really well and it's a good thing to build off of now going into obviously a massive game on Wednesday night. Do you believe in when people talk about perfect timing, when you're always looking to progress and you always want that opportunity and there is the right time for you to come into a club like Chelsea, an elite club? Yeah, I've always worked really, really hard.

3:05I've always been passionate about this job from before doing this job. I've studied, people in my life know the sacrifices I've made. Yeah, it's an amazing thing When it kind of aligns And you get an opportunity like this And I intend to give everything I possibly can To make this opportunity a successful one But I have to say as well I feel like I've earned an opportunity Chelsea are a huge club And I know a lot of questions are being asked of And my CV and my playing career And my reputation Same time before Chelsea I had opportunities to go to Champions League clubs A lot of people saw the work I did not just in France, but in Hull and in Derby and maximising the resources that I've had and playing in a certain way.

3:48So I want to prove that I'm worthy of this amazing, amazing privilege that I have to be a head coach of Chelsea Football Club. Tell me about the work then that you have put in to get to where you are today, where you are now. Doing extra while I was a player, making sure I took sessions after I trained. So I was training players seven o 'clock in the evening every day at Brighton or at Hull, even when I was 26 years old. Sacrificing going away from England, going to France, away from my children for 18 months and throwing myself into something completely new. Everything, I put my life into it, you know, put hours in, hours of research, hours of study.

4:29And I think if you're really passionate about something, it's not work, you enjoy it. And that's the weird thing with me. I enjoy this job. I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy seeing things, seeing players improve, seeing your team perform in the way you want to see it. I even enjoy the difficult moments and I intend to enjoy every moment that I'm at this football club. And I'm sure if I do that to the level that I expect of myself, my staff and the players, we can achieve some really, really good things here in the long run. Because people will see you've come to Chelsea. It's a Premier League club, top Premier League club.

5:00They've given you that opportunity, but you've already lost a job. You've left a job. You've been through the difficult times already, haven't you? Oh, I've done. And I know there are plenty of more of them to come. Yeah, people speak about experience. Everything's relative, but I've been sacked. I've, yeah, I've been in interim in an administration team where we had three players to start pre-season. I had to get a phone book out with another guy, Pete Shuttleworth, who's now at Sheffield Wednesday, and build a team. I had to build a team with no players for a massive club in Derby in League One.

5:30And then I didn't get the job. Now, at the time, I was very disappointed. then move on to Hull and build something really good there then leave Hull and then go to France, a different culture, different language playing against PSG Marseille with the youngest team in Europe there's been challenges, I've enjoyed them and now the challenge is different if I'm successful relative to the abilities of this squad and this club then it's amazing because we should be in a place where we're in a position to win games consistently and if you win games consistently then you should be in a position to be successful in a long time Do you have that advantage that you already have this relationship with Blueco?

6:06So many people talk about that, but you've worked with them. You know their priorities. You know their ambitions. You know the people involved. Does that help? 100%. 100%. I know the long-term objectives of the guys, why they've done things in a certain way. And the great thing is I'm fully aligned with it. I understand. I understand why if results in the short term aren't quite where a club wants them to be, why there's frustration. But I really, really believe that in the end, you know, I'm a positive half glass full kind of person. I'm optimistic that we can make this club really, really successful.

6:41Otherwise, I wouldn't have joined. Do you bother about opinion? Does it impact you? Does it affect you? No, if I'd have bothered about opinion. Will you listen to it? No, I listen to valid opinions and fans are included in that. I think for me, the common denominator, and this is in the blueprint of Chelsea, everything begins with hard work, intensity and winning jewels. This is a club with a long, long history. This club's been on the brink of administration. Ken Bates bought this club for a pound. And people at this football club who still support this club were working so hard to keep this club going.

7:12And then to see the era with the trophies and Jose Mourinho. But that club was built and that success was built on hard work. So for me, I want the fans, when they come to see us play, we might win games. We're probably going to lose some games along the way. But they can come out of the stadium, they can say, those 11 players, they gave everything in the moment. And I think if I can work towards that, then opinions or whether I deserve the job or whether I'm experienced enough or whether I'm good enough, it's nice. I need to focus on what I can give this club. You mentioned Jose there, but Carlo, Enzo, who you just replaced, Antonio, Thomas.

7:49What was Liam's first team talk like? You have to ask the players. Liam from London. Yeah, I'm a human being and the players are human beings. And normally, if you're Cole Palmer or Enzo Fernandez or Moe Caicedo, they come from very, very similar backgrounds from all over the world. Something I learned is probably something that the guys who have been managers here from different countries learn very quickly. Where you come from doesn't matter if you connect with people. And I want to connect with these lads. And when I mean connect, not in like a nice way. I want to push them. I want to demand for them.

8:24I want to drive them. and that's pretty much what I said in my first meeting. I'm really looking forward to working with them in a long time. I said to them at times they're going to hate me because I'm going to push them, I'm going to demand from them but other times they'll probably hopefully be happy that I'm their coach. They will hopefully want to run for me and want to fight for me and the early signs of that in a Charlton game was a really positive one. Where does the communication skill, the ability to be such a good communicator come from because that is one of the strongest skill sets that you have.

8:58Oh, thank you. I don't look at myself and my skill sets or what my strengths are. I think everybody has their own personality and you have to stay true to that personality. I like to talk to people. I like to get to know people. I'm outgoing. So just because I'm a head coach or a manager, I don't change who I am. I think if you're not authentic in who you are, the players will see through it straight away. I haven't tried to come in here and put my fist on the table, but there's other ways you can get players to believe in you and trust you. And hopefully, I say hopefully, I'm very confident that not just the conversations I have, the team meetings, the detail that we go into, the quality of the training sessions, the quality of our information makes the players say, actually, this guy and his staff are serious and they're here to win.

9:43You like a young, fearless side, though, from the teams that we've seen you with at Strasbourg and with Hull City as well. and there is such a huge number of young players here at Chelsea. So what kind of things do you say to them to give them that hope and that belief that they can do something here? It's different for each individual. I think I have a high set of values for the group within that, where regardless of tactics or technique or systems, if you're not at your maximum, you're not being respectful. if you don't give everything you're not being respectful to yourself to your teammates to the supporters who pay your wages and normally if you max out and give 100 % in life good things happen so my demands are very simple don't be afraid to make mistakes don't hide from the ball and give 100 % it's very very simple normally the rest takes care of itself with all of the details within that does every player have a chance every player has a chance who would have said that me from Wandsworth with like the playing career that I've had in CV that I've had ends up as head coach as Charles so you have to give people a chance otherwise what's what's the point you know everyone has a dream um but to realize your dream and to realize your potential you have to you have to max out in terms of your work ethic could you talk about the people who you've looked up to and obviously your dad is one of them Chris Hewton is another one has he been on the phone already he has yeah he's messaged me he said he'll leave me alone I haven't had a conversation with him yet because I'm still replying to the probably over a thousand I can't count but it's to anyone if there's anyone watching who I haven't replied to yet I'm sorry um but it takes takes ages you know it's so nice to get those messages of goodwill Chris is someone who I've looked up to massively um as a person he's got humility and class the way he manages his group I don't think anyone has a bad word to say about how he is as a person which is important to me.

11:38He's someone who I've taken a lot from and tried to develop in my own way, the way that I manage a group. Who were the great Chelsea players that you looked up to? And I only mention the late Jean-Luc Aviali here because when he took over, and it was ahead of a second leg semi-final against Arsenal in this competition, his first team talk, he gave everybody a glass of champagne. Now, I know that was in the 90s. Some of my players are too young for that. Exactly, and times have changed. but what are those great Chelsea players? Who were they for you? Through the years, for me, there was a player, I actually came here on trial, I was 17, and I was lucky enough to train with Gianfranco Zola, and it was like I was in awe of him, and he trained and he did something.

12:22The player was moving this way and he just stood still, received the ball and twisted and turned, and I was 17, I was playing right back on the other side of the pitch, and he was, I think he was a genius. But I remember coming to my uncle Sean He's a massive Chelsea fan And he can't believe it But he took me to Stamford Bridge I'll never forget it Marcel Desai, Torre Andre Flo Frank Le Boeuf It was the beginning of that era When I was like 17, 18 I think I went, I was 15 To watch the lads at Stamford Bridge But through the years, like David Speedy Like my dad's era My dad had a punch-up with Steve Clarke And got sent off for West Ham Yeah, but through the years Didier Drogba, that Jose Mourinho team Was incredible, Eden Hazard Was a genius, it's almost disrespectful To the amount of good players there are here To speak about individuals But what I want for these players I've had this conversation with a few of them Over the last few days is, why not in 10 years Time people speak about you in that way Why can't it be you, Cole Palmer And so Fernandes, Moikai Seda João Pedro, Pedro Neto The list, Esteval, I want people in five, ten years to talk about my lads in that way.

13:31It's my job to try and help them achieve that. What about this game against Arsenal then? Because obviously there is a game coming up and I know you've got a lot going on. What an opportunity though against Arsenal, the chance possibly to reach a domestic final already within what would be a matter of months by that time. Yeah, incredible. Football throws these things up. I think that's why we love it. You just never know what's around the corner. all I want to see is a team just run and fight for the shirt and normally when you have good players if you run and fight for the shirt and you want to win every duel and you want to win every header and every tackle and I know about the rivalry you have a good chance to win they're a very good team they're so well coached very well organised they've had a fantastic season but it's a cup game and I'm really really looking forward to my first home game my first experience as head coach of Chelsea And they talk about Mikel Arteta as well and the time that he has been given, because it is all about this job now is all about time, isn't it?

14:33It is, but sometimes you're not afforded that time. But in order to gain time, I think you have to show things are moving in a positive direction. And I think Mikel has shown that in the time that he's had, that he's had an idea. The board and the people above him that are with him and aligned in what they want to see. and that's given him the time. So it's not just they've given him time, he's earned the time. And I think as a coach, it's ideal to have six years here and see what the team looks like after six years. The reality for every coach is you have to win every game that you could, you have to try and win every game that you play.

15:06You have to show that the team is improving in the short term. And if you do that, then hopefully you get the time to really put your imprint on the team. And lastly, tell me about the last time you were at Stamford Bridge. It was a charity football match. It was a charity football match. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank. Jimmy Show Racism, the red card. something I'm really really passionate about it was amazing it's the only time I've ever played since I retired and yeah had a great time Jimmy played he didn't move as well as he did when he was a player but Jimmy's a great guy there was some yeah really really good people it was a really really good cause if you'd have said to me at that moment probably the next time I'd be at Stamford Bridge was his head coach I would have said you're crazy but life does do that to you sometimes you're here now I'm so lucky to be and I want to make the most of it absolute pleasure Thank you.

15:51Thank you. He's a great talker, isn't he? Got to admit, his head was loaded with all sorts of things. The things he had to do in the day and the ideas for the next few days as well. He's got a lot going on as Liam Rossini, but he and the club afforded me the time to speak to him. The trial that you heard about when he was at Chelsea and playing with Gianfranco Zola, telling me how he would watch Chelsea as a teenager with his uncle, who I'm sure is delighted with the news. Those messages, thousands of messages that he's received since taking over as Chelsea head coach. When I read out some of the names that went before him, like Mourinho, Ancelotti, Tuchel, Maresca, that sharp intake of breath that you could hear, his name has now been added to that list.

16:34And Liam's clearly determined to make the most of this opportunity he's been given, but he's under no illusions whatsoever that he may not be given that one luxury that so many head coaches and managers crave. And that luxury is time. So as he said there, he's begun by challenging his young team, the likes of Cole Palmer, to write their own names in the history books alongside the Chelsea greats like Zola, Hazard, Hasselbank, Vialli, starting with that League Cup semi-final.

17:07thanks for listening to one on one we'll be back with another podcast next week when joe's back he returns from the baller league too so if you don't already why not give this show a follow so you don't miss our next episode and look out also for our interviews across the sky sports platforms and on youtube and on our social channels too we'll talk to you soon

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