Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has defended his tactical approach after his side were eliminated from the Carabao Cup at the semi-final stage by Arsenal. The Blues went into the second leg at the Emirates trailing 3-2 from the first leg at Stamford Bridge, but were unable to overturn the deficit, with a late Kai Havertz goal securing Arsenal's place at Wembley.
Rosenior opted for a three-man defence, with Liam Delap deployed in an unfamiliar role on the right flank. The system drew criticism from pundits, including former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson, who described Chelsea's performance as 'going out with a whimper'. Merson said: 'Fofana is crying at the full-time whistle. He should be crying because they never had a go. They've gone out with a whimper in a semi-final.'
Speaking after the match, Rosenior dismissed the criticism as 'easy' from those not in the dugout. He explained that the absences of Pedro Neto and Reece James through injury forced him to adapt his plans. 'I've been a pundit. It's easy. It's easy in hindsight,' he said. 'If I go and attack the game, press really high and we concede two goals early, everyone says what's he doing? That's the reality of my job.'
Chelsea had arrived at the Emirates in good form, having come from behind to beat Napoli and West Ham United in their previous two matches. Despite reverting to a more familiar system in the second half, with substitutes Cole Palmer, Estevao Willian and Alejandro Garnacho introduced, the visitors failed to test Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Rosenior added: 'The reality of my job is that if you lose games you'll be criticised and if you win you're a genius. It's normally somewhere in between that.'
