Liam Rosenior to Chelsea is the ultimate test of a multi-club model

Whatever you may think of multi-club ownership and BlueCo’s approach to it, the simple fact is that there is no effective deterrent to stop those with the resources and desire to pursue it. In fact, from management and sporting perspectives, there are some clear upsides to be had with an appropriately-run multi-club structure.

Chelsea currently find themselves in a situation where they have the opportunity to take advantage of their position as the flagship outfit in BlueCo’s multi-club group (MCG). Having parted ways with Enzo Maresca due to off-field issues more so than results, the Blues now have a straightforward next step as Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior has been lined up as their next head coach.

Contrast this to Manchester United (also part of an MCG to be fair – just a badly run one), who might even have to wait until the summer to appoint Ruben Amorim’s permanent successor, and it becomes easy to see how Chelsea are able to benefit from their relationship with Strasbourg. However, as fan discontentment grows at both clubs, the pressure to deliver in the second half of this season is on.

Is Rosenior ready to make the jump to Chelsea?

Rosenior was hired at Strasbourg around the very same time as Maresca joined Chelsea in the summer of 2024, and he too is a young coach in the earlier stages of his career.

After a sufficiently accomplished playing career, Rosenior’s first coaching job saw him take an assistant role with Brighton & Hove Albion’s under-23 side, which was soon followed by a move to Derby County. Among others, he worked with Wayne Rooney in the Midlands and took over as interim following the Manchester United legend’s departure, before himself moving on. Hull City gave him his first head coach position in November 2022, when they were languishing in 21st in the Championship. The Tigers narrowly missed out on the promotion play-offs at the end of his first full season in charge and decided to move on.

As he joined Strasbourg just a year after their acquisition by BlueCo, Rosenior found himself in a pretty unique position. In his first job abroad, he took over what was to be the youngest squad in Europe’s big five leagues, with an average age (weighted by minutes played) of just 21.9. Racing brought in as many as 12 new players that summer, going on to add three more mid-season.

Of course, this was a reflection of BlueCo’s young talent development model that has been implemented at both clubs. Strasbourg have remained by far the youngest side in the big five leagues with an average age of 21.3 this season, while Chelsea have gone from fifth to third by dropping from 24.7 to 23.7. So, this is one clear advantage of hiring Rosenior – he already is familiar with this strategy and will end up working with some players at both clubs, notably Andrey Santos and Emmanuel Emegha.

When he moves to London this summer, the Dutch forward will become the 12th different player to transfer between the BlueCo clubs since their takeover of Strasbourg in 2023. With player development being a big priority, it is naturally helpful to have similar tactical setups being implemented at both teams to enable those who move across integrate more quickly.

Indeed, Strasbourg’s attacking structure in possession under Rosenior has resembled that of Chelsea under Maresca very closely. They too have moved into a very expansive 3-2-2-3 or 3-1-3-3 shape with the ball, so the English coach may well look to persist with this setup in London at least for the short term. This is another big advantage of being able to hire the next coach from within the MCG – instructions should be understood and implemented easily enough despite the lack of time for in-depth tactical training, so a Wilfried-Nancy-at-Celtic type of outcome is extremely unlikely.

Of course, Strasbourg weren’t exactly a mirror image of Chelsea. In fact, one of the clearer differences between the two teams was in how they attacked.

There are both positives and question marks for Chelsea fans to take away from this. The good news is that Strasbourg almost religiously played out short from their goal keeper, often with intricate practiced one-touch combinations after baiting a press. The Blues’ deep build-up has been iffy at times, and although personnel issues will be tougher to paper over, this could be one of the first things Rosenior chooses to focus on developing.

On the flip side, Strasbourg have been even slower in possession than Chelsea on average this season. A lack of willingness to engage in or make the most out of open games has perhaps cost the Blues a few points this season, so they will be looking for their new coach to be a bit more flexible. Rosenior did rely on artificial transitions a fair bit in France and has shown a willingness to change his game plan in certain matches (especially against stronger opponents like Paris Saint-Germain), so there is reason to believe that he will not make the same mistakes as Maresca. However, he will also likely need to develop other attacking ideas as he takes charge of a side that is expected to score in every game and is treated differently by opponents.

The difference in the xG tallies in the radar might look concerning, but the difference in team and player quality has to be factored in. Furthermore, Strasbourg’s xG/shot average is better as they have been able to consistently create quality chances (especially for standout striker Joaquín Panichelli). How well that translates will likely depend on how quickly Chelsea’s deep build-up improves and how heavily they lean into artificial transitions, though the effectiveness of such an approach may be more limited against the more disciplined deeper defensive blocks in the current Premier League.

All told, Strasbourg’s attacking output under Rosenior remained fairly consistent, but critically, they made a big improvement defensively.

A significant part of this can be attributed to the time it took the players to fully get to grips with Rosenior’s demands in possession, thus limiting cheap giveaways in the build-up as well as mistakes in transition that lead to big chances being conceded. To his credit, though, the English coach has also shown some improvement in his out-of-possession setups.

Strasbourg often faced the same defensive issues as Chelsea as their heavily player-oriented approach was susceptible to being picked apart by teams with quality passers and combination-play. Part of the solution was to tone down the press’ intensity and focus more on restricting the opposition rather than winning the ball in dangerous positions high up.

Crucially, though, Rosenior often asked his side to drop into a more fixed mid block against stronger opposition, alternating between approaches depending on the game state. Finding this right balance at Chelsea will be another important task for him to get right early on.

All things considered, Rosenior is as good an instant mid-season replacement as Chelsea can hope for. There are some signs that suggest he could help improve their performances in certain aspects, but the possibility of the same concerns lingering also exists. Perhaps more importantly, BlueCo can be more confident of avoiding the same off-field issues as Maresca (such as not agreeing with the advice of the medical department) with a coach they have already worked with for 18 months.

What of Strasbourg?

Despite being on course for their best successive seasons in well over four decades, Strasbourg fans have been consistently vocal about their opposition to the BlueCo ownership. Although they have been treated to some eye-catching football besides benefitting from having better prospects in their squad, their position is very simple – they do not want to be the feeder club for another team.

Unfortunately, under BlueCo’s model, there is no other realistic option for them. While there are various approaches to multi-club ownership, the most basic distinction can be made along the lines of whether relationships between the clubs are hierarchical or sisterly. These are not necessarily decided based on the statures of the clubs and the competitions they participate in, although there mostly is a clear correlation.

Sisterly relationships mostly offer benefits from an operations perspective. Recruitment and scouting is a clear example – clubs of similar stature (which are also close enough geographically) will likely have a big overlap in the player pool they look at, so centralising operations easily cut some costs. However, when it comes to player development, the vertical pathway in hierarchical relationships clearly is the better option. Since that is BlueCo’s priority, Strasbourg are doomed to remain a feeder club for Chelsea.

This background has to be a key factor in the appointment of Strasbourg’s next head coach, who should be someone capable of developing raw talents, dealing with a fair bit turnover every summer and show tactical flexibility besides building on the momentum created by Rosenior in the immediate term. I must admit Gary O’Neil would not have been one of the two names on my shortlist, but being a young coach himself, he too might learn a lot from such a move.

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