Chelsea’s Malo Gusto has defended Liam Rosenior and says he does not understand the criticism he has received since becoming manager.
Rosenior was appointed Chelsea manager in January after the hierarchy opted to part ways with Enzo Maresca, despite the Italian winning both the Club World Cup and Conference League in his first season at Stamford Bridge.
The former Hull City and Brighton defender immediately became the subject of memes and jokes on social media from both rival and Chelsea fans alike.
He began well, with big wins over Atalanta away and coming back from 2-0 down at halftime to defeat West Ham 3-2 in the Premier League.
But recent results have seen Chelsea tumble down the table and a 3-0 loss to Everton in the final match before the international break did little to convince the doubters Rosenior was the man to take the club forward.
That defeat followed an 8-2 aggregate loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, as well as a 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle, leaving Chelsea on a four match losing streak.
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Gusto defended Rosenior, though, and insisted that the players are all behind him.
“I think he [Rosenior] is a top coach, I saw that a lot of people criticised him,” he told ESPN.
“Not really [understanding why he is being criticised so much] I have worked with him a lot since he joined Chelsea.
“I think he is a top person first of all, a top manager as well and as you say, he is young.
“He is a lot of things for the future, but if he is the Chelsea manager it is because he has the talent for this.
“As I said before, for us as a team, we have to believe in him, believe in the way we play, to stick to our plan and see how it goes.
“He is a good person, he is really honest, really simple, you can see that he is really passionate.
“He wants to share it with us his passion for football and I feel like I want to play for him, I want to show my best when he puts me on the pitch.”
Maresca’s sacking caught many by surprise, following those two trophies last season and memorable wins against Premier League champions Liverpool and Spanish giants Barcelona.
Gusto revealed that the players themselves were shocked when the Italian was relieved of his duties and put the dip in form since then down to the change of managers.
