What Rosenior and Fletcher will bring to Chelsea, Man United

This will be a week Liam Rosenior and Darren Fletcher will never forget. Both 41 years old, the duo will take their first steps as managers in the Premier League, and at two of the biggest clubs in the country, no less.

They share plenty in common: A lifetime in football, a Premier League playing career, an inexperienced managerial career, and even, as of now, a points total -- Rosenior's Chelsea are fifth on 31 points, while Fletcher's Manchester United are only behind them on goal difference.

This week isn't the only time their paths have diverged, though.

- Ogden: The top candidates to replace Amorim at Man United
- Dawson: Why Amorim got sacked: Tactics, player issues, transfers
- Chelsea announce Liam Rosenior on 5½-year contract

Fletcher is a close friend of Wayne Rooney from their playing days under Sir Alex Ferguson at United, and a source told ESPN that Rooney had always planned for Fletcher to be his assistant when he took his first steps into coaching. But when Rooney was named caretaker manager at Derby County in 2020, Fletcher was already in the process of taking the technical director job at United, so Rooney turned in another direction to bring in a first-team coach already at the Championship club ... and he chose Rosenior.

From that vantage point, it is remarkable, albeit via different paths and in different circumstances, that the two will lead out United (vs. Burnley in the Premier League on Wednesday) and Chelsea (vs. Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup on Saturday, stream live on ESPN+) this week.

But how did they get here, what kind of characters are they, and what will they bring as managers?

DARREN FLETCHER

Speak to those who know Fletcher and the same words crop up: loyal, tenacious and perseverant.

The Scotland midfielder had more than his fair share of adversity in his playing career -- notably a lengthy battle with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that kept him sidelined for 12 months between 2012 and '13. It made him physically weak, lose weight and put him in the hospital on an IV drip, before he ultimately had surgery and returned to elite football. But if he ever needed inspiration on how to connect with players, then he'd only need to think of his old boss at United.

For weeks in 2012, as he suffered with the disease, only Ferguson knew about it and kept it to himself until Fletcher was ready to tell people. "I found it very difficult making up stories; reasons why I wasn't at training, why I was looking ill, why I was rushing off to the bathroom," Fletcher later told reporters.

Ferguson's assistant Mike Phelan, who worked with Fletcher at that time, described him as having that same kind of loyalty. In his playing career, he was a kind of fixer -- a box-to-box midfielder once derided by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger as an "anti-footballer" who was "only on the pitch to make fouls," but in reality, he was the kind of player who had a job and got it done. (Wenger did not stand by that jibe).

"He was brought up [through the academy and into the United first team] in a very, very professional environment," Phelan told ESPN. "That's the way he is." That is important to note, partly due to the discussion over whether he could pick his twin 19-year-old sons, Tyler and Jack, who have both played for the United first team this season.

"He'll pick a team he thinks will win the football match," he added. "That's the be-all and end-all."

What will Fletcher be like as a manager?

Being a caretaker manager isn't easy. Phelan, who has experience in that role himself, insists that one of the main objectives is to brighten the mood -- a job Fletcher is well-suited for.

He had a 13-year playing career at the club that saw him rise through the youth team and win five Premier League titles and the Champions League, and returned in 2020 as an U16 coach and, a year later, first-team coach, before spending three years as technical director, then taking over the U18s in July 2025.

"That matters," Phelan told ESPN. "He can relate to the players."

Another character trait that came up more than once was Fletcher's personable nature. "I saw that with my own eyes," said Jon McLeish, son of former Premier League and Scotland manager Alex McLeish, who also battled with ulcerative colitis and raised money for charity alongside Fletcher.

"When we did our big charity event, every single United player turned up and their wives. Fergie came; David Moyes came; everyone was there to support him. That gives you all you need to know about how people regard him."

Fletcher's career, as a player and coach, has been a case of finding a role and sticking with it.

As for his tactical style, it can be different to the 3-4-2-1 used by Ruben Amorim (see above). In his role as U18s manager, he has preferred a 4-2-3-1 formation and looks to quickly counterattack through the two wingers. It remains to be seen whether Fletcher will carry over those ideas in his brief stint with the first team, but speaking in August about his U18 side, he returned to a familiar tactical philosophy.

"The fast attacks, it's proper United," he said in a postmatch interview. "I have been showing them clips of Rooney, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Park Ji-sung ... counterattack goals. Trying to show some of that Man United DNA."

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Will Chelsea give Liam Rosenior the time to succeed?

James Olley wonders if Chelsea and their fans are patient enough to give the inexperienced Liam Rosenior the chance to succeed as their manager.

LIAM ROSENIOR

Rosenior played as a fullback for Bristol City, Fulham, Torquay United, Reading, Ipswich Town, Hull City and Brighton & Hove Albion during a senior career that spanned from 2002 to '18. But he has previously described coaching as his "calling."

The son of former West Ham player and non-league manager Leroy Rosenior, he once shared that some of his favorite childhood memories were sitting around the dinner table with his dad and brother, chatting tactics. And as a young teen, Rosenior would make scouting reports for his dad. It's why he always saw himself as a future manager, rather than just a player.

"I've studied for 26 years to ensure I'm the best coach I can be, to understand people as well as I possibly can," he told the Athletic in 2022 as he took his first steps as Rooney's assistant at Derby.

"If I was injured or out of the team at Hull or Brighton, I'd annoy the stewards by watching the game from the mouth of the tunnel so I could practice making snapshot decisions from the touchline. It's easy to be an expert on television, or to see things from the stands. But that perspective, at pitch level, allows you to feel the play. Being able to spot issues and make tactical decisions from there is very different."

Phelan, who also worked with Rosenior at Hull in 2015, backed up that story, describing him as endlessly curious and interested in the coaching side of the game.

Rosenior was doing his coaching badges in the final years of his playing career and taking training for the club's U21 team on some of his days off, as well as helping to set up training sessions -- a move that may have fast-tracked his touchline career.

In 2021, within two years of hanging up his boots, he had already become a first-team coach at Derby and then assistant manager under Rooney.

"Liam was so important for me," Rooney said on his BBC podcast. "He was incredible in his coaching ability. I was more of the manager and dealing with players and everything. His detail, how he approaches the day-to-day, he's as good as I've worked with. So I learned a lot from him from that point of view."

Rooney outlined Rosenior as considered and articulate, and he showed as much in his exit from Strasbourg, where he made the highly unusual step of holding a farewell news conference just hours before he was unveiled by Chelsea.

He did so, he said, out of respect for the Ligue 1 club.

"On Saturday, I didn't know what was going to happen," he told reporters. "What has happened since is that I have been allowed to speak with one of the biggest clubs in the world. Now, on this day, it looks like I'm going to be the next manager of that football club. This opportunity for me is something that I cannot turn down in my life right now."

What's Rosenior's style of play?

One main reason that Chelsea hired Rosenior, despite his lack of experience, is his prior knowledge of the club's wider system from his 18-month spell at feeder club Strasbourg. How he deals with a young squad will be key.

Enzo Maresca never picked a player over the age of 30 in his 92 games at Chelsea, although the only over-30 in the squad was winger Raheem Sterling, whom Maresca had outcast this season. Rosenior didn't quite have that record at Strasbourg, but his debut did see him field an entire starting XI of U23 players -- the first in the league's history.

As for his tactical style, Rosenior is a typically modern coach. He is happy to switch between a back-three and a back-four in defense, but his overarching style is to dominate possession with short passes, building up from the back in a quick, deliberate manner and carving out quality opportunities. This season, Rosenior's side rank third in Ligue 1 for touches and passes attempted, and second in shots-on-target percentage.

Defensively, he is new age, too. He is keen to win possession back as quickly as possible with quick pressing, often trying to regain the ball in the final third.

It proved successful in his debut season, as Strasbourg finished seventh in Ligue 1 and qualified for the UEFA Conference League. This season, despite loan arrivals of Ben Chilwell and Kendry Páez (from Chelsea), Valentín Barco (Brighton) and Joaquín Panichelli (Alaves), they're still seventh at the time of Rosenior's exit.

So is he ready for the hot seat at Chelsea?

"Outside of PSG in France, if Chelsea want a coach, that coach will probably take the Chelsea job," Rosenior told reporters at his final Strasbourg news conference. "I would not have accepted the Chelsea job if I was not ready. There are clubs you just cannot turn down. I hope the Strasbourg fans can see that and be proud of that."