Chelsea thought that they will be building a unit that will strive for success under Liam Rosenior when they appointed him from sister club Strasbourg in January 2026 on a highly ambitious five and a half year contract following the sacking of Enzo Maresca yet he could only stay for over three months as he too faced the same fate as his predecessor. The Blues plummeted to eighth in the Premier League table with terrible form they haven't endured for more than a century. It went that bad under the 41 years old coach who didn't have the experience of managing a club with this pedigree before and was abruptly called up mid season when he was engaged with another project in France. It culminated in a tenure that was bound to fail and the last straw that broke the camel's back was the 3-0 humiliating defeat to Brighton at Amex which got him relieved of his duties on 22nd April 2026.
That produced a string of shocking and unbelievable records that one would not associate for a side like Chelsea. Rosenior became the fifth permanent manager to lose his job since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital purchased the club in 2022. He leaves the Blues seven points a Champion League place, having already exited the competition at the Round of 16 stage miserably, with just four games left to play in the Premier League season and while they remain in the hunt for other European competitions, they are in an intense fight with as many as six teams for the spot. They also have a FA Cup semifinal tie against Leeds United to balance as well. It showed just how precarious a position Rosenior brought the club into in a period one which will further strain the fan's relationship with Blue Co ownership and creates more difficulties and uncertainties going forward.
Here are the dismal records set by Chelsea under Liam Rosenior which led to his sacking:
The apocalyptic run
That devastating loss against Brighton will haunt Chelsea fans as a nightmare because it was a historical fall-off from the side that has not been this lowest for years. The London based club suffered their fifth straight defeat in the Premier League for the first time since November 1993. It will ache more this time considering Chelsea weren't that big of a force back then and didn't have the cash pump they enjoy now. Yet, without a doubt, they had returned to those struggling days again. This defeat also opened up the cracks of Liam Rosenior management as the club failed to a sixth league loss in the 13 games he took charge, a higher loss rate than Enzo Maresca, who lost five of his first 19 games in the hotseat. The struggle could also be defined by the fact that across each team’s last nine games in the Premier League, only their relegation-threatened London rivals Tottenham picked up fewer points with two than Chelsea who had just five in that period.
Scoreless and hopeless
It's not just the defeat but the manner of it that will sting the Blues as under Rosenior they endured a deficiency of finding the back of the net. Failing to score against the Seagulls forced an unwanted record that the Blues did not repeat for more than a century that is losing five successive league games without scoring. It was the first time since November 1912, the same year the Titanic sank, that they had suffered this abysmal fate. This barren run includes zero goals against Newcastle, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, and now Brighton in a forgetful period between 14th March to 22nd April 2026. The Blues last failed to score in five consecutive league games in January 1988. It was not because of lack of trying as Chelsea did conjure 67 shots in the last four Premier League games and 10 on target yet they failed to score which is more than any other team has managed in the league without scoring. The issue resurfaced when they failed to have a single shot on target against Brighton.
Defensive fragilities
It is not just the lack of scoring goals that became a crisis for Chelsea, their inability of keeping opposition at bay was another big factor of their downfall. With an ever changing backline due to injuries and off-form with a struggling goalkeeper in between the sticks, the damage was inevitable. It showed its ugly nature under Rosenior as failing to score at the other end created an unstable situation of forcing more pressure on their defence. The Blues now have conceded 42 goals across 33 games they played which is the worst record since the 2023–24 season when they leaked 63 goals in the Premier League. Almost half of them were conceded with the Englishman in the dugout with 11 of those coming in the last five league games alone. They conceded the same amount of goals from corners, their joint-most since 1994-95, which was their another major vulnerability. Only West Ham, with 15, conceded more from corners in the current campaign. The Blues also conceded their earliest goal from a corner kick in 22 years with Brighton's opener in the defeat.
