Steven Gerrard launches ferocious Chelsea criticism – ‘You’d never trust them again’
Chelsea sacked Liam Rosenior earlier this week ahead of their FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United, and Steven Gerrard has given his take on the situation
Steven Gerrard criticised Chelsea’s owners(Image: Cameron Smith – The FA, The FA via Getty Images)
Steven Gerrard has claimed that Chelsea owners could ‘never be trusted’ again after sacking Liam Rosenior earlier this week. The Blues lined up against Leeds United at Wembley at 3pm in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday.
They headed into the match with Calum McFarlane at the helm on a temporary basis, following Rosenior’s dismissal on Wednesday. An official club statement confirming the Englishman’s departure read: “This has not been a decision the Club has taken lightly, however recent results and performances have fallen below the necessary standards with still so much more to play for this season. Everyone at Chelsea FC wishes Liam every success in the future.”
Despite this, both Joe Cole and Gerrard took issue with Chelsea’s handling of the situation during TNT Sports’ FA Cup coverage, lambasting the owners for pulling the rug from under Rosenior after publicly backing him. Cole said: “The way the whole thing was handled – he was given the vote of confidence then three days later he’s gone – we don’t know whether Liam Rosenior is a top manager or not.
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“Because he wasn’t given the opportunity. For me, what he’s done at Chelsea has no bearing on his ability as a manager. Because it seems like he was in there and constantly fighting against it, trying to get a tune out of the players.”
That was in reference to a quote from Behdad Eghbali before Rosenior’s dismissal, which read: “We’ve had a tough past five, six matches, but I think we’re behind Liam. Of course, it’s a results business but we think he can be successful long term.”
Cole added: “That’s the thing that frustrates Chelsea fans, because you get so much PR around big clubs, ‘this is what we are, this is what we are, long-term plan’ and we’ve sacked five managers.
“‘We back the manager’ and sack him in three days’ time. Fans are not stupid, there’s too much social media information and everything, you can’t just come out with these lines.”
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Gerrard then offered his perspective, adding: “You’d never trust them again. Anything they say moving forward now, from a Chelsea point of view, ex-players, blah blah blah – you go, ‘are you gonna believe that?’ They’re saying stuff like that and sacking the manager six days later.
“I think a lot of players are hiding behind the owners and the manager losing his job. My experience of playing against Chelsea, it’s one of the hardest games I’ve ever played in.”
Yet the Liverpool icon also questioned whether first-team stars have been showing sufficient desire recently. He continued: “You know, let’s not put too much emphasis on owners and managers losing their job – Chelsea have got so many good players. But where’s the identity, where’s the fight, where’s the spirit?
“When I played against these guys, and this is no word of a lie, they had top world class talent. So’s that group of players. But you know what they had? They had a winning mentality. They had the fight, had the spirit, right to the end, to the final whistle.
“And you knew, win, lose or draw you’d come off after playing them group of players: (Frank) Lampards, (John) Terrys, (Claude) Makeleles, (Didier) Drogbas, you knew you were in a game, forget the result. None of them players hid behind a manager or an ownership.
“In today’s world, we get involved in social media: ‘the owner’s said blah blah blah’, giving a six-year contract blah blah blah. You’re a footballer, forget all that. Go and play for your team and your badge and your supporters.
“These players are not doing it enough. They’ve lost seven games out of the last eight, they’ve only won against Port Vale. That’s not Chelsea. He’ll (Cole) tell you, he probably won’t say it because he’s humble, but the Chelsea team that I played against and the majority of the one I’ve watched over the last 10 years, there’s an identity, there’s a fight, there’s a spirit, there’s a style. It’s gone of late. If you want to blame Liam Rosenior for that, fine. But not for me. Not for me.”
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