Liam Rosenior hails ‘magnificent’ Chelsea player rarely seen in Premier League | Football

Liam Rosenior was full of praise for his Chelsea side after a 5-1 FA Cup win over Charlton on Saturday, particularly hailing a player rarely seen in the Premier League for the Blues.

It wasn’t until first half stoppage time that Jorrel Hato opened the scoring with a beautiful strike, but that opened the floodgates for the second period.

Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez all got on the scoresheet to see Chelsea cruise into the fourth round in Rosenior’s first game in charge since arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca.

20-year-old Guiu is yet to score in the Premier League for Chelsea, making just 10 top flight appearances since joining from Barcelona in July 2024, but this was his eighth goal for the club in all competitions.

Rosenior was revelling in the immense quality of his squad after the win, but picked out ‘magnificent’ Guiu of his starting XI.

‘When I can bring on Estevao, Enzo [Fernandez], Pedro Neto, Liam Delap, I’ve got a fantastic squad,’ the new Blues boss told TNT Sports.

‘But I was delighted with the starting players. I thought Marc Guiu was magnificent, I thought he deserved his goal. So there’s a lot of real positives.’

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Hato also earned praise from his new manager, who enjoyed the mindset of his team against the Championship side, playing with the intensity he wanted.

‘A good start. I thought that our first goal came at a really important time in the game,’ he said. ‘I thought Charlton stood up really well, they defended so well in a low block.

‘It’s a fantastic goal from Jorrel, I’m delighted for him, I thought he was very good at Fulham when I watched him at Craven Cottage, he deserved to play today. Strong performance from him.

‘We scored a great goal from a set-play, which always makes you happy. Concede, but then the quality of my players, they’re outstanding. What pleased me so much was the intensity that pretty much every player put into the game, we pressed really high. Strong start, something to build on.’

The praise kept coming from the former Strasbourg manager, who is clearly keen to boost morale among his new players.

‘I was delighted with Tosin and big Ben [Basiashile] at the back. Young Josh [Acheampong] full of potential. I could go through the whole team really, I was delighted with them.’

Former Chelsea star Joe Cole felt Rosenior was looking to reward hard work and following instructions with his praise.

‘I think he’s very emotionally intelligent. I think the players he namechecked there,’ said the ex-England winger. ‘I thought Marc Guiu did well, but he’s obviously done something for him on that pitch.

‘As a centre-forward playing against a low block, you didn’t hear his name a lot in the first half, but he was making runs. We wouldn’t have picked up on that, but certain things like that are really important for him to break down opposition teams.’

Rosenior’s second game in charge is a big step up, facing Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.

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