Chelsea have parted company with another head coach and that could have a knock-on effect for their London rivals and their relegation battle
Tottenham and Chelsea appear to be in a fight this season to be the more chaotic of the London clubs although Spurs have a more perilous battle on their hands.
Spurs currently sit 18th in the Premier League table and just two points behind West Ham with only five games remaining of the season. Nottingham Forest lie in 16th, with five points more than Tottenham and three more than the Hammers. Above them all are Chelsea in eight place who sacked their head coach Liam Rosenior on Wednesday, just three months and 106 days after he replaced Enzo Maresca at the helm.
The former Strasbourg boss recorded just 11 wins in 23 matches and Tuesday’s 3-0 loss at Brighton was Chelsea’s fifth consecutive Premier League defeat without scoring, their worst scoreless run in 114 years.
But what does that have to do with Tottenham, who have gone through four head coaches themselves in the past nine months or so?
Well, Chelsea are set to have a big say in the relegation battle in the next five games. They host Nottingham Forest on Monday, May 4 at Stamford Bridge and while Forest might seem out of the relegation battle right now, it’s worth remembering that aside from a tricky run-in, they also have two big Europa League semi-final legs against Aston Villa to fit around that Chelsea game with a squad that is starting to pick up some injuries to key players.
So having a potential new manager bounce at Chelsea with their expensively-assembled squad getting a new leading voice could kick them back into life. It’s not a particularly fresh voice of sorts as Rosenior’s assistant Calum McFarlane has taken over as interim manager until the end of the season, but the players will no doubt want to prove it wasn’t their fault on the new man’s home debut.
The mixed blessing though to any uptick in form is that Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham must also travel to Stamford Bridge, a place where victories are near non-existent for them. With Rosenior’s scoreless struggles, there might have been more hope of a win finally arriving there, but a change in the dugout might dampen those hopes.
The Lilywhites are currently scheduled to travel the short journey across London to Chelsea on May 17, set with a standard 3pm kick-off. However, that could yet be moved if the Blues overcome Leeds in their FA Cup semi-final, McFarlane’s first match, this coming Sunday. That is because the final at Wembley would be played on Saturday May 16. So the new Chelsea interim boss could immediately have an impact on Tottenham with his first game at the helm.
