Liam Rosenior is “excited for the future” at Chelsea after earning a 5-1 victory over Charlton Athletic in his first match in charge.
The Blues were rewarded with a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup for their dominant performance, with Jorrel Hato, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez all scoring at The Valley.
As such, Rosenior is the first manager to win his first game in charge of Chelsea since Antonio Conte in August 2016 (2-1 v West Ham).
The 5-1 scoreline also marked Chelsea’s biggest margin of victory in their first game under a new manager since Luiz Felipe Scolari led the Blues to a 4-0 win over Portsmouth back in August 2008.
Rosenior is already impressed with the quality his side has shown, and he is looking forward to building on that going forward.
“A good start, professional,” he told TNT Sports.
“I thought our first goal came at an important time in the game; it was a brilliant goal for Jorrel. The quality of my players was outstanding. Strong start, something to build on and quite a small game on Wednesday night [the EFL Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal]!
“Goals change games, and that comes down to quality of players. To get the goal when we did was really good. I’ve got a fantastic squad; I was delighted with the starting players.
“I thought Marc Guiu was magnificent; he deserved his goal. There are a lot of positives. Strong start, but nothing to get too carried away about yet.
“It’s a busy two months. The lads have been really receptive to us, and I thank them for that, and if we keep working in this way, I’m excited for the future.”
Chelsea have reached the FA Cup fourth round in 27 of the last 28 seasons, with the only exception coming in 2022-23 (eliminated by Manchester City in the third round).
Hato (19 years 309 days) became Chelsea’s youngest FA Cup goalscorer since Callum Hudson-Odoi in January 2020 (19y 59d v Nottingham Forest).
The Dutchman also netted his first goal for the club, in what was his 12th appearance in all competitions, and admitted he was shocked to see it hit the back of the net.
“I was actually surprised that I hit it, so that’s why I didn’t celebrate it, but very happy with my first goal for Chelsea, and it’s a nice way to do it. I knew it was in,” he told TNT Sports.
Asked about how it was playing under Rosenior, he added: “He has his own way to play football, and I think it is a good way, and it suits us.
“We had a lot of meetings with him to try to explain how he wants to play because it was a short time, and I think we showed what he wanted.”
