Wayne Rooney believes Chelsea should consider adding club legend Claude Makelele to their staff as they prepare to overhaul their coaching department. The Blues are on the lookout for a new head coach after sacking Liam Rosenior last week.
Chelsea won just one of their last seven games under Rosenior and went five straight league games without scoring for the first time in more than 100 years. With the Blues falling out of the top six, the Rosenior sacking felt like a no-brainer, albeit the Chelsea board also have plenty to answer for.
Wayne Rooney throws Claude Makelele into Chelsea contention
The search now begins for a new manager, and it looks as though Andoni Iraola and Cesc Fabregas look as though they are the lead contenders. But according to Rooney, Chelsea should former midfielder Makelele to their staff.
‘"I played a charity game last year and Claude Makelele was there," Rooney said on his BBC podcast. "I absolutely loved it. It was the first time I’ve been in his company and we sat down after the game and had a glass of wine, I absolutely loved him."
Makelele has spent time as a coach, working at Bastia, Eupen and Asteras Tripolis, and he has generally struggled to achieve results. But some make good coaches, not managers, and there is no doubt that his playing experience could be a valuable asset when it comes to setting a tone and dealing with players.
But ultimately, it's a good idea to allow head coaches to set their own coaching teams and for the club to avoid forcing coaches on them. Chelsea are already likely to do that with Calum McFarlane, so it would be wise to leave the other roles up to whoever comes in.
Rooney on the Rosenior sackings
Rooney went on to discuss the Rosenior sacking and how the players bare much of the responsibility. He added: "I was thinking at the time, someone with his mentality and mindset, having him around the place would be great for Chelsea."
"I was watching the game and I don’t think the Chelsea players seemed sad [about Rosenior’s sacking], they almost seemed relieved.
"As a player you need to look at yourself. Some of them downed tools, 100%. It was interesting as well to see some players back fit. If you go back to Chelsea when they under Lampard, Terry, Cech, Makelele, it actually didn’t matter that much if the manager was sacked because you’ve got a group of leaders who will lead on the pitch and lead by example.
"Groups of players like that run the football club, we had that at Manchester United, so the manager doesn’t need to do much. That’s where it’s changed massively."
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