Sawt Falasteen - Rosenior plots long Chelsea stay as Arsenal loom

The Englishman, who swapped Strasbourg for Stamford Bridge last week, took charge of his first game on Saturday -- a 5-1 FA Cup win at Charlton.

But on Wednesday he faces a challenge of a different order when he comes up against Premier League leaders Arsenal in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

Rosenior last week replaced Enzo Maresca, who became the fourth permanent manager to leave Chelsea since the American-backed BlueCo consortium took control in May 2022.

The Italian won the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup in his only full season in charge.

Rosenior, who has signed a six-and-a-half year deal with the London club, told his pre-match press conference that he would like to be given time, as Mikel Arteta has been been at Arsenal.

But the 41-year-old knows he he must hit the ground running at a club that has become renowned for hiring and firing its managers.

"I'd love to be here for six years and longer," said. "I'd be here as long as possible. But I'm aware in order for that to happen, I need to win. It's as simple as that.

"I understand every club has a different project. This word project comes out a lot now in football. But the idea in any project is that every game you play, you're trying to win it."

Rosenior said he believed Chelsea were strong enough to make an impact this season.

"I've got ideas about what I want the team to look like in a year's time, two years, three years' time," he said.

"But I think I've got enough resources and enough tools with me now... I've made that clear to the players. We're going to give it our best shot on Wednesday."

Rosenior was questioned whether the clash at Stamford Bridge would be one of the biggest games of his brief managerial career, which included a spell at English second-tier club Hull before his time at Strasbourg.

"I don't see it that way," he said. "I think every session that I take, every meeting that I take, every game that we play is the most important thing.

"I live in the now. So it is the most important game because it's the next one. I mean that.

"If you start to prioritise games or think something's more important than the other, then you're not focused."

Newcastle take on Manchester City in the other League Cup semi-final, with the final taking place at Wembley on March 22.

U.AlSharif--SF-PST