“One thing Enzo Maresca made them be is SOFT, these two players went behind my back to complain to the board that my style of play is too intense, I’m not here to babysit pampered millionaires. When I look at players, I look for warriors, not tourists. If they can’t handle hard work, they’ll find the door.” Chelsea interim Head Coach Calum McFarlane has it clear that these two players are leaving this January as their style of play doesn’t fit in his scheme

Calum McFarlane has shed light on the degree of tactical input Liam Rosenior provided during Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The newly installed head coach watched from the stands, seated alongside co-owner Behdad Eghbali and sporting director Paul Winstanley, as the ten-man Blues fell to defeat on Wednesday evening in west London.

With Under-21s boss McFarlane overseeing proceedings in a caretaker capacity for his second and final match before Rosenior officially takes charge, an early red card for Marc Cucurella—dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity—dramatically shifted the course of the encounter.

Liam Delap broke his Premier League duck for Chelsea with his maiden goal for the club, but strikes from Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson either side of that equalizer secured victory for Fulham.

Rosenior, the former Hull City and Derby County manager who recently left BlueCo’s sister club Strasbourg, will make his dugout debut on Saturday evening when Chelsea visit Championship outfit Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round.

“Liam came in yesterday [Tuesday], probably about an hour before we were due to start training,” McFarlane revealed following the setback against Fulham.

“We were holding a team meeting to go over what the training session would look like. He arrived just before that got underway.

“He spoke to the players about how thrilled he is to be at the club, outlined his values and what he believes in, explained what he wants to bring to the team, and discussed his objectives. After that, he stepped back and watched the training session.

“I caught up with Liam once training had finished to run through his thoughts on the game plan from the meetings, as he’d watched back recordings of those meetings at another point.

“He observed the session, watched us train closely. I spoke with him afterward about our strategy and what we were looking to achieve today. Because he’s arrived so late in the process, we’d already completed all our preparation, so he’s left it in our hands.”

McFarlane continued: “Beyond offering supportive words and being extremely complimentary about the preparation work we’ve put in, he’s given us complete autonomy to select the team and decide on the tactical setup.

“We’re pretty much aligned in our football philosophy anyway, so if our approaches were vastly different, perhaps it would have been handled another way. He’s been exceptionally respectful and trusting, allowing us to see this job through before he begins working properly with the group tomorrow.”