Newcastle's Under-the-Radar Plan Surprises Leicester Shockingly

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 14: Liam Rosenior, Manager of Chelsea, reacts during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on March 14, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) | Getty Images Since his arrival, Liam Rosenior has gone to great lengths to keep things positive around Chelsea, praising players individually and collectively, talking up our ambitions, expressing confidence in the club’s overall direction, and so on and so forth. At times that praise has even bordered on the unwarranted, especially when the reality of the performances did not match up with the idealized version being presented.

But after last night’s defeat, even Rosenior cut a much more frustrated figure. In some part, that was due to events beyond our control (like refereeing decisions), but in an equally large part — and perhaps even bigger part — that was due to our own performance: ineffective with the ball, second-best without it, and simply underwhelming in every phase. We’ve been inconsistent to a fault, but we haven’t had too many days like this, going an entire 90 minutes without a pulse.

That was always going to be the worry from Wednesday’s spectacular collapse in Paris and how that all happened. Newcastle were nursing their own European hangover as well, but they could hardly miss the one opportunity we gifted to them via a defensive breakdown. That would prove to be all the difference needed.

“[The goal was] a tactical issue. We press in a different way to most teams. It’s a new way of pressing.