"We just have to trust the process." That's Malo Gusto, Chelsea's right back, defending Liam Rosenior after the Blues limped into the international break having lost four straight games and shipped 12 goals in the process.
It's a loyal stance. It's also the kind of thing players say when a manager is in trouble.
From seven wins in nine to four straight losses
Rosenior's start at Stamford Bridge was genuinely promising. Parachuted in from Strasbourg at the turn of the year after Enzo Maresca's surprise sacking, the 41-year-old won seven of his first nine games. The only two defeats came against Arsenal, who are running away with the Premier League title. At that point, the skepticism around his appointment — a manager whose only prior experience came in the Championship — looked misplaced.
Then came the collapse. Late concessions gifted points to Leeds and Burnley. Another defeat to Arsenal followed. The most recent run: losses to PSG, Newcastle, Everton, and a fourth that sent them into the break with Champions League qualification slipping away and no European football this season to fall back on.
Chelsea's odds of finishing in the top four are shortening by the week — and not in a good way.
Gusto's defense carries more weight than it looks
What makes Gusto's public support notable is that he isn't even a guaranteed starter under Rosenior. Ten of his teammates have received more minutes since January. Players who aren't in the XI tend to keep their heads down — or quietly push for a move. Gusto did neither.
"I think he is a top coach," the France international told ESPN. "He is a good person, he is really honest, really simple, you can see that he is really passionate. I want to play for him, I want to show my best when he puts me on the pitch."
Cole Palmer said much the same earlier in the season — "Life under Liam is amazing" — and Enzo Fernández called him a "great coach" before his own focus appeared to drift elsewhere. The dressing room, at least publicly, isn't mutinying.
The system, though, is clearly still finding its feet. Rosenior introduced a new pressing structure that broke down visibly in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle. Gusto acknowledged the difficulty directly: "When you start to understand one system and then right away you have to change to another one, it is maybe a little bit more difficult for us because we have a little less experience."
That's a candid admission. A squad this expensive, still adjusting mid-season to a second managerial philosophy in twelve months, was always going to be vulnerable to exactly this kind of run.
The online mockery of "LinkedIn Liam" — his glasses, his motivational posts, that video of him failing to control a ball — has been cheap and largely unwarranted. The actual football problem is more straightforward: four losses, 12 goals conceded, a top-four race that Chelsea no longer control. Belief in the manager is one thing. Results after the break will be something else entirely.
