Liam Rosenior: What new Chelsea head coach learnt from Blues' Premier League defeat at Fulham
Liam Rosenior watched from the stands as 10-man Chelsea lost 2-1 at Fulham on Wednesday night; new Chelsea head coach takes charge of his first match on Saturday in the FA Cup at Charlton; Marc Cucurella was sent off before goals from Raul Jimenez, Liam Delap and Harry Wilson
Wednesday 7 January 2026 23:09, UK
Liam Rosenior saw the scale of the task he is walking into as he watched his new Chelsea side lose 2-1 at Fulham with 10 men...
Chelsea have a major discipline problem
Rosenior will have witnessed first-hand a major issue for this Chelsea team: a lack of discipline.
Marc Cucurella's red card was as blatant as they come (whether the foul continued into the penalty area and should have been a spot-kick is another debate).
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It was Chelsea's seventh red card across all competitions - that's four more than any other Premier League team. They're just one off their Premier League record of six with almost half a season to go.
Afterwards, caretaker boss Calum McFarlane argued the sending off was not an example of ill-discipline but admitted the flurry of yellow cards which followed it could be looked at.
Rosenior has spoken about his desire for intensity from his team - but Chelsea have crossed the line too many times this season. And it's costing them. This is the third Premier League game this season Chelsea have lost after seeing a player sent off and that's before the impact of suspensions through reds and accumulated yellows is analysed.
The team's form is alarming
"Chelsea's built on winning," Rosenior told Sky Sports before the game at Fulham. But this is a Chelsea team which has won just once in their past nine games.
They battled valiantly with 10 players at Fulham but that is a shocking run of results for a team with such lofty ambitions. It highlights what a big job this young coach is walking into.
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There will be opportunities in the cups in his first two games, against Charlton in the FA Cup and then Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semis. But a Champions League qualification berth through the Premier League is essential and, after spurning the chance to go fourth on Wednesday night, Rosenior must get Chelsea back on track quickly to achieve that goal.
The fans are NOT happy
Rosenior will have clearly heard the disgruntlement of the club's supporters at Craven Cottage. Throughout the game - even after Delap's equaliser - the travelling fans chanted against the club's owners, voicing their displeasure with Behdad Eghbali in particular.
'We don't care about Clearlake, they don't care about us' was a repeated refrain, while there were also chants for former owner Roman Abramovich.
Rosenior needs to shift the mood on and off the pitch.
Delap off the mark
Liam Delap could hardly have timed his first Premier League goal for Chelsea any better in front of Rosenior, who must now work out how to get the best out of him and Joao Pedro.
Delap has struggled with injury issues since joining from Ipswich and has been a culprit of the team's poor discipline - sent off in the Carabao Cup for two petulant yellow cards.
"It's been a difficult start for me," he told Sky Sports after the defeat to Fulham. "I've been finding it tough to get sharp."
The wait for his first league goal looked set to continue when he was denied by Bern Leno's good save in the second half, but the striker pounced to tap in the equaliser. He is a handful for centre-backs but needs goals.
Will this be the start of a hot streak? That's for Rosenior to decide.
The Palmer problem
One of McFarlane's final acts as interim head coach at Chelsea was to deploy Cole Palmer on the right wing.
It was only the second time this season that he started in that position, scoring against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and he played there on only six occasions last term.
McFarlane preferred Enzo Fernandez in the No 10 role at Fulham while Enzo Maresca did similar or played Joao Pedro there when Palmer has been out injured this season.
Much like Delap, Palmer has had a stop-start season, but his output has dropped over the last 12 months. He had 17 goal contributions in 42 appearances in 2025 compared to 33 in 34 games the previous year.
Palmer has gone cold - Rosenior needs to relight the fire.
