Liam Rosenior says it is “easy” being a pundit after dismissing criticism of Chelsea’s approach against Arsenal last night.
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson was particularly scathing of Rosenior’s tactics which were one of containment until the final 15 minutes when the visitors pressed forward in search of the goal that would take the tie to extra-time.
They did not find it, and Arsenal applied the killer touch late on through former Chelsea forward Kai Havertz to win 1-0 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate.
Mikel Arteta’s side will now face either Manchester City or Newcastle in the final at Wembley on March 22.
Merson: Chelsea went out with a whimper
Former Gunners midfielder Merson ranted afterwards: “I’m flabbergasted. I can’t believe what I just watched. This is Chelsea Football Club. They’ve got international players, a World Cup winner and they’ve got good players all over the pitch.
“This is not a bottom four or bottom five team. It’s unbelievable and I’m lost for words. I cannot believe what has happened. They’ve just gone out with an absolute whimper in the semi-final of a big competition. If it worked, it was great, but it hasn’t worked and you can’t gamble like that. Have a go, and go out in a blaze of glory – don’t go out like that.”
It was a physical second leg with very little penalty box action, a situation that favoured the home side. Chelsea had two shots on target with only one seriously testing Gunners goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
“They played in second gear,” Merson added of Chelsea. “This is the semi-final of the cup. You should go out in a blaze [of glory]. I keep on saying it but this is not like a League One or League Two team coming to the Emirates to keep the score down. They’ve got the players to mix it with Arsenal and have a go but they didn’t have a go.
“There’s ways of losing. If they had lost the game 3-0, and they had shot after shot, Kepa was brilliant in goal and they broke like that three times you’d go ‘that’s the way it is’.”
Rosenior defends Chelsea tactics
Rosenior’s approach was understandable given Arsenal’s pace on the counter and the former Strasbourg boss, who has worked for Sky in the past, gave a withering riposte to Merson’s comments.
“I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “So, 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. The reality of my job is if you lose games, you’ll be criticised. If you win, you’re a genius. It’s normally somewhere in between, I think.
“I’m very, very pleased in the direction of our performances even if the result wasn’t where we wanted it to be tonight.”
I am encouraged by Chelsea performances – Rosenior
Chelsea have lost just two of Rosenior’s first eight games in charge – the two ties against Arsenal – and he feels they are on the right path.
He added: “I’ve been in for less than a month. We’ve had eight games in that month. So, for the players, firstly, to put the performances in that they’ve done, to show me the learning and, by the way, the spirit, the togetherness, the fight in the team was there.
“There’s a lot of encouraging signs. Now I need to see what we look like after a setback. We need to react positively. We have a difficult game away in Wolves on Saturday and I need to see what our reaction is to that.”
