Liam Rosenior was 'stitched up' by two Chelsea players just weeks before sacking

Liam Rosenior was "stitched up" by Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella before his Chelsea sacking, according to Gary Neville, who has called out the pair for their recent comments.

After just 106 days in charge, Rosenior was relieved of his duties on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the Blues were beaten 3-0 by Brighton.

It has been a woeful period for the club, who have lost five Premier League games on the bounce without scoring, and any hope of securing Champions League qualification has all but disappeared.

The writing was on the wall for Rosenior, who won seven of his first nine games in charge before Chelsea's form started to dip, but Gary Neville believes Fernandez and Cucurella played a part in his downfall.

Speaking on Sky Sports about Rosenior's dismissal, Neville said: "The results have not been good enough. When the results aren’t good enough, a manager gets sacked.

“But come on, Cucurella and Fernandez - experienced players and probably the only two experienced players that Chelsea have got - stitched him up in the last few weeks by calling out the fact that they basically love Maresca, but they weren't doing that well under him."

Neville has called out Cucurella for his recent comments. Image credit: Getty

Neville added: “I think Maresca is a fine coach as well, but this policy at Chelsea and this plan – I don’t see it. These six- and eight-year agreements, you see it is almost laughable from the start, whether it be for a manager or a player.”

What did Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella say about Enzo Maresca?

Last month, Fernandez admitted the departure of Maresca "hurt" the squad and left the team lacking tactical identity.

"I don't understand it," Fernandez said on Maresca's exit. "Sometimes as a player, there's things we don't understand and the way they try to manage things. I don't have an answer for you because I don't know."

"Obviously, it was a departure that hurt a lot because we had a lot of identity, he gave us order but it's the way that football is, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. But we always had a clear identity when it came to training, playing and obviously his departure hurt us especially in the middle of the season - it cuts everything short."

A short time later, Cucurella became the second Chelsea player to back Maresca, saying that the club should have stuck with the Italian.

“We knew what Maresca wanted from us. Winning a title like the Club World Cup also helps, strengthens the bond, and you create great relationships during the celebrations," he said in an interview with The Athletic.

“When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you’d die for him.

"The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full pre-season."

Cucurella added: “The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is.”