Liam Rosenior has defended the decision to take off some of the club’s key players during Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The Blues coach took off Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro just after the hour mark in the clash and was jeered by supporters for the decision.
Chelsea went on to lose 8-2 on aggregate after also losing the first leg 5-2 in France last week, putting the Englishman under early pressure at the club.
Meanwhile, the former Strasbourg coach admitted that taking over the players’ was to keep them fit for other matches, as the Blues had no hopes of a comeback in the clash.
“They’ve played over 100 games in 18 months, they’ve had no break in terms of the international games, the travelling that people like Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez do to South America,” Rosenior admitted.
“It’s not an excuse. This is a by-product of success of the Club World Cup.
“It’s a great thing the club achieved but you’re seeing with Reece and with other players that if I don’t manage their minutes their likelihood of getting injured increases highly.”
Chelsea were beaten for the second time in two weeks by PSG on Tuesday night in front of their home fans.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes, before Bradley Barcola added a second in the 14th minute.
Senny Mayulu scored a third in the second half to complete a stunning win for the visitors, sending Chelsea out of the competition.
“I have to make really difficult decisions which at the time don’t look great”, Rosenior added.
“You never want to take off your best players when you’re five goals down but I want to make the decisions which are right for this football club in the long term.”
Chelsea will now turn their attention to the Premier League, where they will hoping to finish in the top-four, while they are also still in contention in the FA Cup, with a last eight tie against Port Vale to come next month.
Olakitan is a young writer with a strong passion for sports, having gained experience with IndyPress and Nimelssa Press. His enthusiasm for sports inspired him to cover events both within his school and beyond. With a deep understanding of the game and a refined skillset, he brings sports coverage to a broad, global audience in a way that’s engaging and accessible.
