Liam Rosenior's five brutal putdowns as he tore into Chelsea stars 24 hours before sack

View 4 Images

Liam Rosenior may not have known it at the time, but he went out with a bang as he tore into his Chelsea players less than 24 hours before being sacked .

The 41-year-old claimed the "buck stops with me" in an explosive post-match press conference on Tuesday night - and so it did. An embarrassing 3-0 loss at Brighton proved to be the final straw for the Blues hierarchy and, after only four months, Rosenior was given his marching orders.

Defeat at the Amex with Chelsea's fifth in a row in the league without scoring. That hasn't happened since 1912 and the Stamford Bridge bosses had ultimately seen enough. Rosenior himself was beyond unimpressed with how Chelsea played on the south coast.

The loss saw them drop down to seventh. Having been in contention for the Champions League they now face a battle to simply qualify for the Europa League . Rather than keeping his thoughts private and internal, Rosenior came out with frank honesty in the post-match press conference.

The Blues stars, many of whom are underperforming, were firmly in the firing line as their attitudes were questioned by their former boss. Here's a look at five of the brutal remarks made by Rosenior.

'That was indefensible'

What he said: "Unacceptable in every aspect of the game. I keep coming out and defending the players, that was indefensible, that performance tonight. The manner of the goals we conceded, the duels that we lost. Something has to change drastically right here, right now."

Rosenior challenged for change, but ultimately it is far easier to change one man than it is to change 20 plus. So the change that was made at Chelsea was him. But he didn't shy away from claiming his players had been beaten in almost every aspect on the pitch.

View 4 Images

'I tell the truth'

What he said: "I can't come out and lie. I tell the truth. That was an unacceptable performance at every level."

Plenty of managers and coaches in the past have come out and kept a lid on their frustration with the media, instead making their feelings known behind closed doors. Rosenior had no interest in doing that. There have been reports that certain players weren't sold on the ex-Strasbourg boss and he clearly had little desire to give them a free pass.

'Ask the players'

What he said: "You have to ask the players (if they threw the towel in). If you're playing at this elite football club, or any football club, to be even accused of throwing the towel in is unacceptable."

View 4 Images

Most managers wouldn't dream of even suggesting that their own players had given up, but Rosenior by no means denied it when the questions was put to him. "Ask them" was his response, not that the interviewer got the chance. Plus, of course, they would deny it - but the fact Rosenior wasn't offended by suggestion they'd given up was telling.

'Read anything you want into that'

What he said: "It's about playing for the club. It's about playing for the shirt. It's about playing to win games of football. I can only speak on what I saw tonight. You can read anything into it that you want, whether they're playing for me or not. That performance in itself was damning."

It is curtains when a manager losses the dressing room and that was the sense for many watching on Tuesday night. Rosenior himself seemed to lean on the pride element, insisting that the players should be giving their all regardless of their feelings for him. But he conceded that the performance said more than he could.

View 4 Images

'If you can't handle it, don't be here'

What he said: "We're playing for Chelsea and I'm managing Chelsea. The criticism and pressure comes with the football club. So if you can't handle that, then you shouldn't be here. It's as simple as that. And that's something that needs to be addressed this week. But it also needs to be addressed in the long term."

Chelsea players talking up exits, look at one Enzo Fernandez, is nothing new this season. But Rosenior himself claimed that certain individuals needed to move on if they couldn't handle the heat being put on the team. His comments also seemed to suggest that the squad, which is among the youngest in the league, needed to take a long-term look at whether they could hack the pressure.

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.