Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior warns players over discipline

LONDON – Liam Rosenior on March 2 demanded an improvement in discipline from his Chelsea players – after Pedro Neto became their ninth player to be sent off this season – threatening to drop players who do not show greater control.

The 2-1 loss to Premier League leaders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on March 1 means the Blues have won just two of their past six matches in all competitions.

They are sixth in the Premier League table ahead of their match at fourth-placed Aston Villa on March 4, three points behind Liverpool, who took on Wolverhampton Wanderers late on March 3, in the battle for Champions League football next season.

Ill-discipline has been costly for Chelsea this season, with Neto their seventh player shown a red card in the Premier League.

Chelsea boss Rosenior, who replaced Enzo Maresca in the hot seat in January, said Neto had apologised to his teammates after he was dismissed in the 70th minute.

“My job is to create a culture of accountability, where if you make a mistake, it’s OK. You hold your hands up and you make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said the English manager.

“But you have to hold your hands up to the original mistake. If I make the wrong team selection, or I get something wrong, my job is to be accountable, and it’s the same for my players in that moment.”

Neto will miss the match at Villa Park, making things more difficult for the Blues.

“I just need to see an improvement in the behaviour now,” Rosenior added.

“And it’s not just Pedro. We’ve had bookings. People speak about dissent. We’ve had needless bookings in terms of fouls.

“If we are to improve and get to where we want to be, we have to make a conscious step now to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Rosenior said there were different approaches to tackling the issue.

“Sometimes it’s not a stick, it’s showing what the value of not having a red card is,” he said. “If you look at our stats, when we have 11 men on the pitch, before my job here and after my job here, our percentage chance of winning goes through the roof.

“So that needs to be motivation in itself, to make sure we stay disciplined in key moments, reacting to setbacks. Sometimes a setback is giving the ball away, sometimes a setback is a referee making a decision you disagree with.

“In that moment you have to react positively and you have to think of the next thing. Those are the things we have to go after in order for our discipline to improve.”

Chelsea players will now have to learn and always be on their toes, otherwise they may be dropped.

“You pick players who are showing that improvement. I can’t afford to go through a season every two games or every three games with a red card, it’s just not possible,” Rosenior warned.

“So I need to see improvement in that and I need to adjust my team selection based on who’s showing those capabilities.” AFP