Wayne Rooney claims Liam Rosenior is ‘as good a coach as he’s ever worked with’ ahead of the Strasbourg manager becoming Chelsea boss.
Rosenior is set to make a huge step up from the Ligue 1 side to take charge of the Blues, his first role in the Premier League.
The 41-year-old will replace Enzo Maresca, who left Stamford Bridge on New Year’s Day after his relationship with the club’s hierarchy fell apart.
Both Strasbourg and Chelsea are owned by BlueCo, so the incoming manager does have experience working with the decision-makers.
Rooney expects the former Hull City and Fulham player to shine in the Premier League, having been very impressed by him when they worked together at Derby County.
Rosenior was Rooney’s assistant at Derby from January 2021 to June 2022, before a brief spell as interim manager.
Having worked with some legendary names at Manchester United and Everton, Rooney would class Rosenior as one of the best coaches he has ever seen in action.
‘He’s taken chances, and hopefully that pays off because I think Liam is as good a coach as I’ve ever worked with,’ Rooney said on the Wayne Rooney Show.
‘His detail, how he approaches the day-to-day, he’s as good as I’ve worked with.’
He added: ‘Liam was so important for me. He was incredible in his coaching ability. I was more of the manager and dealing with players and everything.
‘So I learned a lot from him from that point of view and then I think he’s done a great job as a whole.’
‘You don’t want to cross him’
Prefer us to the others? Then tell Google!
As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
An impressive, thoughtful speaker, Rosenior also has an edge to his personality, says Rooney.
‘He’s also got a side which you don’t want to cross him as well,’ said the Manchester United legend. ‘That’s important as well. If he goes in there, he won’t disappoint. He’s been waiting for an opportunity like this.
‘If you don’t take it now, then you’re never going to take it. And I think he’s done his apprenticeship, he’s done his work to try and get to that job.
‘So he’ll have no doubts in his mind that he’s capable of doing that job. And hopefully, very soon, hopefully we hear that he is the manager, because for young English coaches I think it’s massive.
‘We don’t really see English managers at big clubs. So he’d be leading the way for for us.’
Rosenior’s coaching career
His playing career ended at Brighton in 2018 but he stayed on with the Seagulls, coaching the under-23 side.
He moved to Derby County as first team coach in 2019 and Wayne Rooney became the boss in 2021, Rosenior stepped up to assistant manager.
After Rooney’s departure in 2022, Rosenior was briefly interim manager.
His first top job was at Hull City, taking over in November 2022 and surprisingly being sacked at the end of the 2023/24 season despite finishing seventh in the Championship. The season before he took over, the Tigers finished 19th.
Rosenior moved to France to take over at Strasbourg in July 2024, replacing Patrick Vieira, and finishing seventh in his first season. An improvement from 13th the year before.
He will leave the French side having won 49 per cent of his 63 games in charge.
