Liam Rosenior claims Chelsea star is ‘the best in world football’ | Football

Liam Rosenior believes Moises Caicedo is the best midfielder in world football and has praised Enzo Maresca for his ‘fantastic’ impact at Chelsea.

Rosenior takes charge of his first game as Chelsea manager on Saturday as his side travel to Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round.

The 41-year-old has been reunited with some of his former players this week having worked with Andrey Santos as Strasbourg, Liam Delap at Hull City and Robert Sanchez at Brighton.

When asked during an interview with TNT Sports if he had spoken to any of his former players before joining Chelsea, Rosenior replied: ‘I had a fantastic relationship with Andrey Santos last year, Liam Delap, Rob Sanchez I’ve known from the age of 16, 17 years old, coaching him at Brighton, purposely I didn’t want to speak to them, I want to have a good relationship with all my players and actually I quite like the challenge of walking in the dressing room, I enjoy the challenge of walking in.

‘Enzo Fernandez has won the World Cup, what a fantastic player he is, for me, Moises Caicedo is the best midfield player in world football, in my opinion.

‘I’m walking into a group of players who I’ve got so much respect for, for what they’ve already achieved.

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‘It’s a challenge for me, will they buy on me, will they believe in my message? I actually enjoy that, it sounds a bit crazy, I am a bit crazy but I enjoy that challenge. If you want to be a successful manager, the first thing you have to do is get your players to buy into who you are and what you stand for.’

Rosenior was also full of praise for Maresca, who left Chelsea last week following a breakdown in relations with the club’s hierarchy.

‘I was watching the Club World Cup final as a fan, the performance against PSG, it’s 100 degree heat and they ran and they pressed, I have to say, I’m open enough, Enzo did a fantastic job here in certain ways,’ Rosenior said.

‘I don’t know what happened for me to end up in this position but there’s a lot of good work that’s happened before I’ve come, which is actually very helpful to me.

‘I have to say as well, in the short period we’ve had, Calum McFarlane has been magnificent.

‘The second half performance against Man City was top, the lads ran for 75 minutes away from home at Fulham with 10 men and nearly got a result and should’ve got a result through their energy and intensity.

‘I’m walking into a really good group of lads, which actually has been even more exaggerated in that feeling from being in with them the last two days, so I’m in a good place. I think they’ll buy into me, I think they’ve seen on the training pitch, not just me but my staff, what we’re about, I think they’re quite excited now they’ve got to know me in a short space of time and I’m looking forward to what comes in the next few weeks.’

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