Liam Rosenior admits 'tactical issue' proved Chelsea's undoing as 'new way of pressing' fails to stop Newcastle winner

The breakthrough came against the run of play when Joe Willock capitalised on a ragged defensive line to run clear and square the ball for an Anthony Gordon tap-in just 18 minutes into the game, which turned out to be the decisive moment of the 90 minutes. 

Explaining the decisive moment, Rosenior said at a press conference: "Yeah, there's a tactical issue. We press in a different way to most teams. It's a new way of pressing. We don't step on the press and we don't cover in a position that we should have done. Mistakes happen. They had nothing. They had nothing in the game and we gave them a goal. We talk about the press. I think the press was the reason Newcastle had to kick long balls back to us and we controlled the game."

The Blues’ recent form has been hampered by an inability to recover from individual errors, a trend that continued against the Magpies. Rosenior lamented the fact that his team is being punished for every minor slip-up at the back, while opposition teams are finding success without creating a high volume of chances.

The manager added: "But in that moment, we make a mistake and it feels like at the moment every mistake we're making is ending up in the back of our net and we need to make sure we stop those mistakes. They've scored a goal other than that from one mistake that I can't remember them having a clear chance on our goal."

Chelsea's task was made harder by a depleted squad, particularly in wide areas where they lacked the creative spark to break down Newcastle’s compact defensive shape. Rosenior was forced to do without several key attackers, which limited his ability to rotate the side and provide fresh impetus from the bench during the second half.

"Yes, it's difficult at the moment with the injuries, especially in attacking areas," Rosenior admitted. "I'll never make excuses. Injuries are a part of the season, but you're missing three of our most important players in terms of unlocking a low block, which is your wingers. Jamie [Gittens] was due back on the bench and he felt his hamstring late after training yesterday, so we're just checking up on him. Obviously, Estevao is out, Pedro [Neto] is suspended and you'd love to freshen it up."

Despite the setback, Rosenior remains confident that the level of performance will eventually lead to a return to winning ways. While the loss, which was somewhat overshadowed by a bizarre incident involving the Chelsea players and the referee, deals a blow to their immediate ambitions of climbing the table, the Chelsea boss insisted that the underlying consistency of his team remains a positive sign for the remainder of the campaign.

Reflecting on the impact on their Champions League aspirations, he concluded: "It was a really difficult day, a frustrating day, because we didn't get the result that we want. But I still think there's a consistency in our performances. We tried to find different tactical solutions. In saying that, I think we got into the final third enough times, we just didn't take advantage of those moments."