Churning Chelsea threw Rosenior in at the deep end but left him out of his depth | Jacob Steinberg

Enzo Fernández was dropped for comments about joining Real Madrid but was given his place back and named captain at Brighton. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

There will be tweaks to the approach. Chelsea do not intend to hire a manager without top-level experience again. Convincing a big name to join could be a challenge, though. There are admirers of Como’s Cesc Fàbregas, a former Chelsea player, at Stamford Bridge. Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso are available. But when managers of that type look at how others have fared under this ownership they will need to be convinced that working for it would be the best career move.

There is also the thorny issue of whether managerial and transfer targets will be harder to land if Chelsea, who could be in the bottom half by the time they next play in the league, fail to qualify for Europe. Fears that missing out on the Champions League will impact the budget after losses of £262.4m must be allayed. It starts to feel like a defining moment for BlueCo.

It looked like Chelsea had cracked it when Enzo Maresca led them to the Club World Cup last summer and then thrashed Barcelona in November. Yet relations with Maresca soon became strained. Chelsea did not sack the Italian, who admitted to the club that he had held talks with City over replacing Pep Guardiola, but moving on from his messy exit has been harder than anticipated.

Rosenior had experience of the system. The 41-year-old worked at Chelsea’s partner club, Strasbourg, and knew the recruitment team well.

But while he started well and was regarded as a promising young coach, it was not a surprise that he was in over his head. Players who were close to Maresca did not take to Rosenior. Sources say the Spanish speakers in the dressing room did not rate him. Rosenior’s authority quickly disappeared. A day after he talked about behavioural improvement, his lineup against Brighton was leaked by Cucurella’s barber in a deleted social media post.

There was also Wesley Fofana reacting badly to being substituted during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United. There were stupid red cards, bookings for dissent and whispers about the players struggling to connect with Rosenior’s LinkedIn vibe. Ultimately any semblance of clout slipped away after Rosenior dropped Robert Sánchez and started Filip Jörgensen in goal against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16. It was an unforced error. The No 1 goalkeeper’s confidence was hit and Chelsea have not recovered from Jörgensen’s costly error at 2-2 in the first leg.

One source has pinned the blame on Rosenior. Chelsea have been too open –no clean sheet in the league since January is inexcusable – the muscle injuries have piled up and the attack has faltered. The same players looked better under Maresca. Even then, Rosenior’s plight is merely symbolic. He is a good man and should go on to have a fine career, but he was not qualified for this job. He was thrown in at the deep end and although he had to go, the people who hired him have real food for thought.