Softfootball understands that Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior may be delivering results on the pitch, but off it, the young coach continues to battle waves of online mockery and harsh judgement.
From memes to dismissive labels, the noise around him has grown louder, even as his team quietly strings together wins. During a recent episode of the Rio Meets Podcast, in a video post via their official X account, Joel Beya first stepped in to address what he believes is an unfair narrative forming around the Chelsea boss.
Watch the video below:
Beya defends Rosenior by pointing out the contradiction between perception and performance. While many supporters were quick to reduce the manager to jokes and social media banter, Beya stressed that the numbers tell a completely different story.
He said:
The guy who became a meme as soon as he stepped in two minutes into the building called him the PE teacher comparing him to Matisse Amani. He’s had everything going against him, but in seven games, he’s won six games. He’s only lost against Arsenal in the defeat in the League Cup.
Rio Ferdinand expanded the discussion further. also defending Rosenior’s record, but to question the wider culture around how English managers are perceived.
He suggested that if Rosenior were a foreign coach with the same results and mannerisms, the media and fans might label him a tactical genius rather than a figure of ridicule. For Ferdinand, the criticism feels excessive and rooted more in bias than football logic.
Ferdinand stated:
I think he’s being treated harshly. I think you can. Yeah, I think there are things you can look at and then becoming a meme for certain things I get and I find quite funny, right? But I think when you look at it go, this was a young foreign manager, and we’ll be sitting here going guru.If this was a foreign coach coming in, we wouldn’t be giving him the harsh treatment that he’s getting right now. And that’s what I think, you know what, is a little bad. We can all laugh on that, tongue and cheek here and there, really, he’s a young English coach, man. Let’s give him a chance. Let’s let him go, you know what, actually, go on. You talk a way I might not like or understand, but you know what, go on, have a fair crack at it. And that’s what I feel. People are going, oh, he’s talking in a way that I don’t understand, so he thinks he’s too smart. And I don’t like that. That’s what I think it comes across the reaction to him looks like to me.
With six wins from seven games, recently defeating Napoli 3-2 in the Champions League and also defeating West Ham United 3-2 in the Premier League, Rosenior’s early record speaks for itself. As both Beya and Ferdinand argue, perhaps it’s time the focus shifts from jokes to genuine football analysis.
