Calum McFarlane says Liam Rosenior appointment at Chelsea ‘really inspirational’ for young English coaches, confirms coaching plan against Fulham

Under-21 coach McFarlane assumed temporary control of Chelsea’s first team following the departure of Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day.

McFarlane confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday he will be in charge of Wednesday’s Premier League match against Fulham, before passing responsibility to Rosenior, who he lauded as an “accomplished coach”.

“I’m sure all young English coaches from an academy background will be, in some way no matter who you support, rooting for Liam,” McFarlane said. “It’s really inspirational for young academy English coaches to see that someone get that job with that profile and we hope he does really well.”

Rosenior was formerly in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion’s U23 side, before coaching and later becoming assistant manager at Derby County.

From there, Rosenior was appointed as Hull City manager and led the club to a seventh-placed Championship finish, before joining Strasbourg – Chelsea’s sister club under the BlueCo parent company – and leading them to a seventh-placed finish last season.

McFarlane was complimentary of Rosenior’s progress as a coach so far in his career, and said he will not be issuing any advice to the incoming head coach.

“Yeah, the conversation (we had) was really brief,” McFarlane said. “Probably keep most of that private if we can.

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“I wouldn’t be giving him any advice. Liam’s an accomplished coach. He’s had a really good start to his career.

“So, I’m sure he’s got his own ideas and things that he wants to attack. So, I’m here to support him with whatever he needs in the best way I can. So, I won’t be giving him any advice.”

McFarlane added: “(I) really enjoy watching his sides, like I did with Hull as well. Aggressive, front foot football, really good on the ball, good positional play concepts. So yeah, really excited to see the work he’s going to do at this club.”

Chelsea then face Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals, and asked whether it helps Rosenior to be introduced into his role with two cup matches, rather than straight into Premier League action, McFarlane replied: “No, I think he’s obviously been appointed the Chelsea manager because they believe he can handle the challenges of the Premier League, so I don’t think it helps him.

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“I think any game at Chelsea you need to win, there’s always been pressure on that, and he’ll understand that as we all do, so I don’t think it makes any difference. He’s going to come in and put his stamp on the team and we’ll all be behind him.”

But McFarlane expects a “smooth transition” into Rosenior’s tenure, with the squad in a “really good place” after his interim stint, which he described as a “great experience” and “great challenge”.

“I’ve mentioned loads of times the level they’ve shown this year and it’s just about getting that on the most consistent basis possible and I think Liam is really excited,” McFarlane said. “He’ll have full faith and we back him fully that he’ll come in and it’ll be a really smooth transition.”

McFarlane led Chelsea to a 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday.