WHAT REALLY HAPPENED BETWEEN LIAM ROSENIOR AND COLE PALMER BEFORE THE BRENTFORD MATCH
Liam Rosenior secures his first Chelsea win as Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer sink Brentford. Get the latest on the squad virus.
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior blamed a virus sweeping through his squad for their tough second half, even as his team fought past Brentford to give him his first Premier League win.
The 2-0 score at Stamford Bridge—thanks to a goal from Joao Pedro in the first half and a Cole Palmer penalty in the second—actually made things look easier for Chelsea than they were. Brentford, managed by Keith Andrews, dominated after halftime but just couldn’t finish their chances.
Before the match, Chelsea fans protested against the owners, BlueCo, frustrated with the club’s direction. Even after the win, it was clear that problems on the pitch still need attention.
Chelsea lost control of the game almost completely in the second half. Brentford’s midfield ran all over them, and Chelsea struggled just to get out of their own end.
Rosenior pointed to the illness, which left several players unable to train, and said the win felt like clearing a big obstacle.
“It’s running through the squad,” Rosenior said. “A couple of players out there today were complaining about their chests. They gave everything. That’s why I think we weren’t great on the ball. I’m proud of the group for getting through this.”
Chelsea started well and deserved their 26th-minute lead. Michael Kayode’s clearance bounced off Enzo Fernandez and landed for Pedro, who smashed the ball home. After that, Brentford took over. Mathias Jensen and Kevin Schade both missed good chances to level the game.
Liam Delap, who missed the Carabao Cup loss to Arsenal because of the virus, came off the bench and immediately made an impact, pouncing on a poor touch from Caoimhin Kelleher to win a penalty.
Palmer slotted it home for 2-0, and Chelsea escaped. “I loved the attitude, the energy, the basics,” Rosenior said.
“When you play a good team like Brentford, what pleased me most—what you saw in both goals—was the players’ willingness to fight, to block shots, to win headers, to make tackles.
“That’s the attitude that got us the win.”
Reece James and Palmer, both just back from injury and hardly able to train, made their first appearances under Rosenior. Neither was at their best on the ball, but they still put in the work.
“No one can be brilliant on the ball every game,” Rosenior said. “But you can still find a way to win. Cole and Reece hadn’t trained. They went out there anyway and worked themselves into the ground—that’s the attitude I want to see.”
Brentford boss Keith Andrews, whose team sat fifth before kickoff, brushed off the idea that Chelsea’s spending guarantees them a higher finish.
“I don’t think spending money gets you a better player,” he said. “I just don’t see it that way.
“I’m really happy with the players we have. Igor Thiago cost about £30 million, but there are plenty of players in this league who cost more and haven’t done what he’s done.
“We were fifth going into this game, and we earned it. We haven’t had much luck—we’ve just played well.”
MUDRYK SPOTTED: STAR TRAINS PRIVATELY AT UXBRIDGE FC WHILE SERVING A MAJOR FA SUSPENSION
Mykhailo Mudryk is training alone! Read about his Uxbridge pitch rental, the 4-year FA ban threat, and his offensive gaming ban.
The Ukrainian international hasn't played for the Blues since their Europa Conference League win over Heidenheim back in November 2023. After joining Shakhtar Donetsk in 2023, he racked up 10 goals and 11 assists in 73 matches.
People started talking when he showed up on a football pitch this week, even though he's still suspended.
Mudryk Trains at Uxbridge FC
According to talkSPORT, Mudryk wasn’t actually training with Uxbridge. He just rented their 3G pitch and brought his own private coaching team along. The Honeycroft ground is about 40 minutes from his place, and his representatives booked it directly.
Chelsea had nothing to do with these solo sessions. Mudryk’s FA charge bans him from training or playing with the club.
If he’s found guilty, Mudryk faces a ban from football that could last up to four years. But the time he’s already spent suspended counts toward that total.
Back in December 2024, Mudryk said, “I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon. I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can.”
Other players like Sandro Tonali, Eric Cantona, Ivan Toney, and Luis Suarez have also received long bans.
Mudryk Banned from Gaming Too
Football isn’t the only place Mudryk’s hit a wall. In February, he got a four-week ban from the Counter-Strike 2 platform FACEIT for making offensive comments during a game.
Apparently, he made several remarks about the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during WWII. These killings carried out by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army between 1943 and 1945 left up to 100,000 Poles dead, many of them women and children.
FACEIT’s rules say a four-week ban goes to repeat offenders, so this probably wasn’t Mudryk’s first time getting punished for his behaviour on the platform.
In a message to his fans, he wrote, “Happy New Year to all my fans. I just wanted to say thank you for your support. I see all your messages and truly appreciate them, so please don't give up on me, as I have not given up on myself. Can't wait to see you soon.”
DISCIPLINE CRISIS: WHY CHELSEA IS ON THE VERGE OF AN ALL-TIME PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD
With 10 games left, Chelsea's top-five hopes rest on fixing a disciplinary record that is the worst in the Premier League.
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior isn’t messing around anymore. After yet another red card, this time Pedro Neto got sent off in the second half of their 2-1 loss to Arsenal. Rosenior’s patience has run out. That’s now nine red cards for Chelsea this season, which is over twice as many as any other Premier League team. Even Enzo Maresca picked one up when he was in charge.
It’s not just Neto. Marc Cucurella, Joao Pedro, and Moises Caicedo – they’ve all been sent off at some point. Chelsea’s disciplinary record has gone from bad to worse, and Rosenior’s fed up. With Neto now suspended for the big game against Aston Villa, Rosenior wants his players to get their act together and start taking responsibility.
“It needs to improve,” he told reporters on Monday. “My job is to build a culture where people own up to mistakes. If you mess up, admit it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. That goes for me too. If I pick the wrong team or make a bad call, I need to be accountable, and I expect the same from my players.”
Rosenior’s message couldn’t be clearer: sort yourselves out, or you’re out. With ten league games left and a top-five finish and a Champions League spot still within reach, Chelsea can’t afford to keep shooting themselves in the foot. They’re only two reds away from the all-time Premier League record. At this point, they could nearly field a whole team of players who’ve seen red this season.
Neto’s sending off came hot on the heels of Wesley Fofana’s red card in the draw with Burnley. Rosenior said, “You need your team-mates, but you’ve got to help yourself too. Pedro apologised to everyone, but we’re missing him on Wednesday. I need to see better behaviour, not just from Pedro, but from everyone. Too many silly bookings, too much dissent. If we’re serious about improving, we need to change this now.”
It’s not a new problem either. Chelsea finished bottom of the Premier League fair play table last season under Maresca, and they were bottom the year before with Mauricio Pochettino.
Asked how he plans to fix it, Rosenior explained he even had to sub Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez against Arsenal to avoid more reds. “It’s not always about punishment,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to show the value of staying disciplined. The stats don’t lie: when we keep 11 men on the pitch, our chances of winning go way up. That should be all the motivation we need.”
He knows setbacks happen, bad passes, and questionable refereeing, but he wants his players to react positively and move on. “I can’t keep losing players every couple of games. If someone can’t control themselves, I’ll have to leave them out.”
Chelsea’s running out of excuses. It’s time for the players to step up or step aside.
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