Has Liam Rosenior Run Out Of Ideas - Chelsea vs Newcastle Match Review

Has Liam Rosenior Run Out Of Ideas? - Chelsea vs Newcastle Match Review

We are back in the Premier League and today we see a game between two heavy hitters in the league. Both sides have come off difficult games in Europe and will be hoping for a good result to gain some confidence before the second legs.

Newcastle who will be heading to Barcelona next week had a clear game plan from the first minute and that was to allow Chelsea to have the ball. They would instead defend in a compact system, stopping them from being able to build anything through the middle, something Rosenior looks to do very often.

At the start of this game, it didn’t look like it would go so well with Chelsea having some early chances and being very much on top. However, in the 18th minute this changed when Livramento played a ball through the middle of the pitch, splitting the Chelsea defence in half. Willock got onto the end of the ball before squaring it for Anthony Gordon to tap it into an open net for 1-0.

Defeat at home.#CFC | #CHENEW pic.twitter.com/WLOhVHBNFH

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 14, 2026

This would then see their plan truly come to the surface as they sat deep, looking to hit on the counter. They had another chance before the break, with Thiaw having an open header from a free kick.

Chelsea would’ve hoped to change something in the second half with Liam Delap coming on to help in attack. However, they couldn’t make anything. They lacked any intensity or any creativity to make any clear chances, with half chances getting blocked or being hit off target.

It looked as if Liam Rosenior had run out of ideas. Sending plenty of notes for the players to read and change their tactics, nothing looked to be changing on the pitch, however. Chelsea would play crosses but would always be second to the ball, never causing issues for the Newcastle defence. This wasn’t shown more than looking at the stats where Chelsea had 22 shots and could only find the target 3 times all game. It was an awful match for the Blues at home.

Never been this harsh to any manager (was quiet even about Frank's second coming) but Liam Rosenior you need to go, am sorry mate... pic.twitter.com/G1LzFoSabX

— Golden State Warriors (@warriorsFMVP) March 14, 2026

Newcastle did deserve the win in the end. They defended incredibly well as a very well-trained unit. They limited Chelsea to just 2 big chances all game, and they missed both. They would stop any chance of Chelsea quickly rebuilding an attack by clearing the ball. Overall, it was a match that showed Eddie Howe got the better of Liam Rosenior and the result proves that.

Newcastle needed this win; it will give them a massive boost for their midweek match against Barcelona. As for Chelsea, this would’ve been the last thing they wanted, having to overcome a 3-goal deficit at home to the current champions of Europe.