'I can't believe it': Liam Rosenior 'gamble' blasted as Chelsea lose to Arsenal again | OneFootball

Head coach receives strong criticism for gameplan as Blues edged out in dour Carabao Cup semi-final decider

Blues boss Liam Rosenior made significant tactical changes for Tuesday night’s semi-final second-leg decider in north London, with his side trailing 3-2 after their initial first-leg defeat at Stamford Bridge last month.

Chelsea went with five at the back in an attempt to nullify the Premier League leaders, before unleashing the likes of Cole Palmer and the returning Estevao Willian off the bench.

While the first part of that strategy worked as Arsenal struggled to create chances, they barely threatened themselves throughout a disappointing contest and former Chelsea forward Kai Havertz eventually dealt the final blow in the last seconds of a 1-0 defeat.

It was an approach that left Merson absolutely baffled in his role as a pundit at the Emirates Stadium for Sky Sports.

“I’m numb. I’m flabbergasted,” said Merson, an Arsenal legend as a player but also a Chelsea fan. “I can’t believe what I just watched.

“I honestly can’t believe what I just watched. This is Chelsea Football Club. They’ve got international football players. They’ve got a World Cup winner [Enzo Fernandez]. They’ve got players all over.

“This is not a bottom four, bottom five team. He [Wesley Fofana] is crying. He should be crying because they never had a go.

“I’m lost for words. I cannot believe what 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. I’m lost for words. Honestly, I’m lost for words.”

Reacting to Rosenior’s post-match interview, in which he spoke of having to cope without Chelsea captain Reece James and Pedro Neto after they both failed fitness tests earlier on Tuesday, Merson said: “They are very good players, two of their better players.

“But [Bukayo] Saka and [Martin] Odegaard never played neither... They will forever be thinking about that in their footballing careers.

“I just can’t believe what I watched,” he added, also saying that Chelsea never looked like scoring “in a month of Sundays”.

Merson’s fellow Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp said: “In semi-finals, it’s just a completely different thing altogether. You’ve got to throw caution to the wind.

“You’ve got to get the ball into the box. You’ve got to be thinking, no regrets after this game. There will be a lot of regrets in that dressing room, thinking we didn’t do enough.”