Liam Rosenior saw his Chelsea side ease to victory at Wolves on Saturday, as the 3-1 success keeps them right in the hunt for a top four finish.
In the process Rosenior has become just the second English manager in Premier League history to win their first four league games in charge.
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Here is the latest Liam Rosenior reaction after Chelsea’s comfortable win at Wolves thanks to a Cole Palmer hat trick in the first half.
Liam Rosenior reaction
On being impressive in the first half: “First half was everything you want in an away performance at this level,” Rosenior told the BBC. “I thought our pressing was very good, our patterns with the ball were outstanding and we put ourselves in a really, really strong position. And then second half we want more and our standards dropped. It’s difficult because the conditions weren’t great. Really, really difficult day for both teams in terms of the pitch, in terms of the rain. But overall very, very happy with an away three points.”
On what changed in the tactics in the first half after a bright start from Wolves: “We kept the ball, we made passes and because we made passes we were able to take up our attacking positions. Once we did do that we looked a very, very good team. Obviously Cole, delighted for him. There’s been a lot of talk around him and how happy he is. He looked happy today with three goals. But we could’ve scored more in the first half and we need to keep improving.”
On how close we are to seeing Palmer get back to the levels he can reach: “I think some of his play, especially in the first half, our combination play in the middle of the pitch with Enzo [Fernandez], Moi [Caicedo], Andrey Santos and then Pedro Neto, who I thought was outstanding coming back to his old club, Joao Pedro again very good. A lot of positives but I want us to keep focusing on what we can improve and we’ve got a difficult game on Tuesday against a strong Leeds team.”
On Cole Palmer being happy and his celebration saying there’s been a lot of noise: “He loves playing football. I love watching him. Not just him. The whole team. When they are in the mood and when they do they right things and the mentality is right and they are focused, they are an outstanding group of players. Cole is definitely someone we want on the pitch more often than not and hopefully he can stay fit now.”
On the high standards and being frustrated with the second half: “No disrespect to Wolves, second half they were very good, they made it difficult, they put balls in our box. But those moments came from our sloppiness because we gave the ball away cheaply. In the first half we were crisp with our passing and there are things we need to improve moving forward.”
On being just the second-ever English manager to achieve four-straight Premier League wins to start a new job and if it makes him happy: “Can’t really get any better, can it? In terms of the Premier League when you come into a new job at a big club you want to make a good start. I think we’ve done that. I think we’ve got much more to go which is very exciting in terms of the potential of the team. As long as we keep on improving while we are winning, that will make me a very happy manager.”
On Cole Palmer’s hat trick: “He’s a fantastic player. I think he gets the goals because it was an outstanding team performance in the first half. Some of our combination play, how we overloaded the middle of the pitch, it created those moments for him and because he is such a world-class player he takes those moments,” Rosenior added to Sky Sports.
On how close Cole Palmer is to being back to his best given the injuries: “He wasn’t bad today. For us people will question my decision making, the minutes and the amount of games. I think that is nine games we’ve played in less than a month. You have to manage minutes for all of your players because we want to be strong between now and the end of the season and Cole is going to be a massive part of the rest of our season.”
On if Palmer’s hat trick made a statement and reminds people what he is capable of: “I don’t think anybody needs reminding of the that player he is. He just needs to keep being himself, we need to keep finding him in the right areas. I thought our approach play helps him with Enzo, Pedro and Malo at times and Moi and Andre giving us a solid base. It’s a team game but when you have outstanding players who help you in those moments it makes all the difference.”
On joining Mourinho and Hiddink in winning your first four league games in charge of Chelsea and what is clicking: “The players have been top. It’s always difficult when you change managers in the middle of the season. Their engagement, enthusiasm to learn something new, I give them all the credit and hopefully we can keep winning games.”
