Home / Football Chelsea boss Rosenior dismisses Merson rant after Arsenal defeat and says its easy being a pundit Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior defended his approach against Arsenal last night Written by Jon Fisher Last Update: February 4, 2026 09:41:42 am GMT 4 min read Liam Rosenior says it is easy being a pundit after dismissing criticism of Chelseas approach against Arsenal last night. Sky Sports Paul Merson was particularly scathing of Roseniors 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 Artetas side will now face either Manchester City or Newcastle in the final at Wembley on March 22.Table of Contents1 Merson: Chelsea went out with a whimper2 Rosenior defends Chelsea tactics3 I am encouraged by Chelsea performances RoseniorMerson: Chelsea went out with a whimperFormer Gunners midfielder Merson ranted afterwards: Im flabbergasted. I cant believe what I just watched. This is Chelsea Football Club. Theyve got international players, a World Cup winner and theyve got good players all over the pitch.This is not a bottom four or bottom five team. Its unbelievable and Im lost for words. I cannot believe what has happened. Theyve just gone out with an absolute whimper in the semi-final of a big competition. If it worked, it was great, but it hasnt worked and you cant gamble like that. Have a go, and go out in a blaze of glory dont 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. Theyve got the players to mix it with Arsenal and have a go but they didnt have a go.Theres 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 youd go thats the way it is.Rosenior defends Chelsea tacticsRoseniors approach was understandable given Arsenals pace on the counter and the former Strasbourg boss, who has worked for Sky in the past, gave a withering riposte to Mersons comments.Ive been a pundit. Its easy. Its easy in hindsight, he said. So, if I go and attack the game, press really high and we concede two goals early, everyone says, whats he doing? Thats the reality of my job. The reality of my job is if you lose games, youll be criticised. If you win, youre a genius. Its normally somewhere in between, I think.Im very, very pleased in the direction of our performances even if the result wasnt where we wanted it to be tonight.I am encouraged by Chelsea performances RoseniorChelsea have lost just two of Roseniors first eight games in charge the two ties against Arsenal and he feels they are on the right path.He added: Ive been in for less than a month. Weve had eight games in that month. So, for the players, firstly, to put the performances in that theyve done, to show me the learning and, by the way, the spirit, the togetherness, the fight in the team was there. Theres 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. Topics: Arsenal F.C. Chelsea F.C. Follow us: Jon Fisher Jon has over 20 years' experience in sports journalism having worked at the Press Association, Goal and Stats Perform, covering three World Cups, an Olympics and numerous other major sporting events. Read more from Jon Fisher
