Chelsea urged to sack Liam Rosenior and hire former Arsenal captain | Football

Chelsea have been advised to sack Liam Rosenior after their latest defeat at the hands of Premier League rivals Manchester City.

Rosenior’s side kept title-chasing Man City at bay in the first half of Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge but conceded three second-half goals to slip to a fifth defeat in five games.

City’s Carabao Cup final hero Nico O’Reilly broke the deadlock with a header shortly after the restart before Marc Guehi doubled the visitors’ lead with a crisp finish.

The lively Jeremy Doku added a third for Manchester City, who closed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to just six points following the Gunners’ defeat at home to Bournemouth earlier in the weekend.

Chelsea enjoyed a promising start to Rosenior’s tenure after the former Strasbourg manager replaced Enzo Maresca in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat.

But the Blues were embarrassed by PSG in the Champions League before the international break and just one win in their last seven games has seen them slip to sixth in the Premier League.

Chelsea are four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool and seven points outside the top-four places with six league games remaining.

The Stamford Bridge hierarchy are willing to give Rosenior more time to turn things around in west London but World Cup winner Marco Materazzi believes they ‘have to make a change’.

Materazzi even urged Chelsea to attempt to hire Premier League legend Cesc Fabregas, who has impressed during his first managerial role at Italian side Como.

Fabregas won two Premier League titles at Chelsea as a player after breaking through at London rivals Arsenal and also enjoying a successful spell at Barcelona.

‘I was at Chelsea’s game against Everton [a 3-0 defeat on March 21],’ Materazzi told Hajper. ‘I was at the FIFA Club World Cup final.

‘With Enzo Maresca, they were a totally different team. What I saw in Liverpool was an easy game for Everton. Chelsea did not impress me.

‘I think they have to change. They are a young team and I don’t know if they have the best manager for what Chelsea need right now.

‘They have to try for Cesc Fabregas this summer. I love the job he is doing right now in Como. I don’t know if he will move because he wants to take Como to the Champions League but I can see Chelsea in the future for Fabregas.

‘Why not? Chelsea are the best club for Cesc Fabregas because they have young players who will follow his words immediately.’

Rosenior cut a frustrated figure after Chelsea’s latest setback against Manchester City.

‘We weren’t good enough in the second half,’ the former Premier League star said. ‘We didn’t start well.

‘We had moments to clear the box and keep the ball, but we didn’t. They were camped in our half for the first five minutes and then we concede a goal.

‘Then it’s a similar story for the past month now in terms of dealing with setbacks. If you go down against teams as good as this, what you have to do for the next five minutes is to stay in the game.

‘It ended up being a really, really difficult second half.’

Chelsea will look to get back to winning ways next Saturday when they welcome Manchester United to Stamford Bridge.

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