Rosenior sack certain as Garnacho excuses exposed by Manchester United again

The last time Michael Carrick managed Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, an excellent defensive gameplan was supplemented by a goal from Jadon Sancho but undermined by an equalising penalty conceded by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

A hard-fought draw against Chelsea helped warm the seat for the incoming Ralf Rangnick; there remains doubt as to whether or not he is performing a similar function almost half a decade later.

But there is no question that he is carrying out an indeterminate role far more capably this time around.

It has not been perfect – the sting from that Leeds defeat after 24 days of preparation lingers – yet Carrick has steered Manchester United capably through choppy waters to Champions League qualification.

There is little point waiting for mathematical confirmation of a spiritual certainty. Three clubs need to overhaul Manchester United to knock them out of the top five. Aston Villa and Liverpool could still feasibly do it but neither of them feel particular stable, while there is nothing to fear in the three-team cabal from sixth to eighth which Carrick’s side sits ten points clear of with five games left.

That Chelsea lead the chasing pack and were so thoroughly exposed by their visitors here does feel instructive.

This was a Manchester United side without their first, second, third and fourth-choice centre-halves, who had to partner teenager Ayden Heaven on his first start under Carrick with natural right-back Noussair Mazraoui at the heart of their defence.

And this was Chelsea, failing to score in four consecutive Premier League games for the first time since March 1998, during a run of form which saw Ruud Gullit sacked.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to consider any other fate befalling Liam Rosenior. Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali stated this week that the manager has “every attribute to be successful here”, but the addendum that “I think we’re behind Liam” hardly evoked confidence.

The last Chelsea head coach to lose four consecutive Premier League games was Frank Lampard; over three months in and Rosenior feels no less a caretaker than James Corden’s mate did.

How a manager on a contract until 2032 can be so tactically humiliated by one whose terms ostensibly only run until the summer is absurd. Carrick coached an exceptional away performance of solidity and organisation with spare parts, while Rosenior has one clean sheet in 12 league games and continues to struggle making sense of the expensive jumble he has inherited.

Alejandro Garnacho defines the contrasting trajectories of these clubs neatly. One of the lambs sacrificed at the altar of Manchester United’s culture reset has become Chelsea’s £40m conundrum.

After clarifying that he left Old Trafford in part because “I was just not playing like before” and “I started to be on the bench,” Garnacho found himself warming the same spot for Chelsea yet again at kick-off. But an injury to Estevao afforded the Argentinean an opportunity to prove his worth, defy his doubters and silence the boos which greeted his every touch.

A Daily Mail report earlier in the week claimed that Garnacho ‘believes there are some mitigating circumstances for his faltering form,’ including his lack of pre-season and the time needed to adapt to a new club and city. But they feel like laughable excuses with each stuttering, ineffective performance.

No player was tackled more often, nor failed with more dribbles, nor was fouled more frequently. Garnacho’s one or two bright moments were shrouded by three or four humbling ones, such as the counter-attack he torched by falling over both his own feet and the ball, and the crunching Mazraoui tackle he collapsed under.

Worst of all was his attempt to thwart Bruno Fernandes in the build up to the winner; temporarily down to ten men as Wesley Fofana had obviously been clattered by Robert Sanchez, Chelsea could not reorganise their defence and Fernandes capitalised by surging down the right and cutting back for Matheus Cunha to finish.

The irreplaceable captain‘s 18th assist of the Premier League season was one of his best yet, and there are five matches remaining for him to register three more and claim Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne’s shared seasonal record.

Garnacho, to his credit, did at least show for the ball constantly in positions of actual consequence. The same cannot be said of Cole Palmer, while Pedro Neto offered nothing beyond a pair of crosses which resulted in bar-hitting headers.

But there is a reason Chelsea are already considering selling him. That admittedly isn’t saying much: there are precious few members of this doomed project who can be deemed indispensable.

Rosenior is perhaps the furthest away from that description as anyone. Only one manager looked, acted and felt like an interim at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, and it was the one with six years left on his contract rather than two months.