Liam Rosenior has defended his Chelsea tactics after his side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup at the semi-final stage against Arsenal.
Chelsea were beaten 3-2 in the first-leg of the tie at Stamford Bridge three weeks ago but arrived at the Emirates on Wednesday in good form having come from behind to secure huge wins in their last two games against Napoli and West Ham United.
But the Gunners held onto their lead with a late goal for Kai Havertz booking their place at Wembley next month.
Rosenior switched up his system on the night, later suggesting the absences of Pedro Neto and Reece James forced his hand somewhat.
The Blues started with three at the back, packing their midfield with Liam Delap deployed in an usual role on the right.
Rosenior reverted back to a more familiar system in the second-half with Cole Palmer, Estevao Willian and Alejandro Garnacho brought off the bench but his side could not pick their way through a resilient Arsenal defence.
Chelsea failed to truly trouble Kepa in the Arsenal goal with Paul Merson left ‘flabbergasted’ by the set-up, insisting they ‘went out with a whimper’.
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‘[Wesley] 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,’ Merson said.
‘It hasn’t worked. Go out in a blaze of glory, don’t go out like that. They played in second gear. This is the semi-final of a cup.
‘Chelsea have got the players to mix it with Arsenal. And they didn’t have a go.’
Speaking in his post-match press conference, dismissed ‘easy’ criticism from pundits, insisting a more cavalier approach would have seen him similarly condemned.
‘I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,’ Rosenior 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.
‘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.’
