Paul Merson was left stunned by Chelsea’s approach after their 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg loss at Arsenal.
Kai Havertz struck in the 97th minute at the Emirates to ensure Arsenal reached the final with a 4-2 aggregate victory. Chelsea, needing a goal to force extra time following the first-leg defeat, adopted a conservative game plan under Liam Rosenior and struggled to create clear openings.
Though Chelsea registered 14 shots, only two were on target and the side produced just 0.68 expected goals. Merson, speaking on Sky Sports, criticised the team’s lack of ambition. “I’m flabbergasted. I can’t believe what I’ve just watched. Chelsea aren’t a bottom-five team. They have World Cup winners,” he said. He added that defender Wesley Fofana was reduced to tears and lamented the manner of the exit. “They never had a go. They’ve gone out with a whimper in a semi-final. It hasn’t worked. Go out in a blaze of glory, don’t go out like that.”
Merson argued Chelsea played in “second gear” and had the personnel to compete with Arsenal but failed to try. “If they’d have lost the game 3-0 but had shot after shot and Kepa [Arrizabalaga] was brilliant and they got broken on three times, that’s the way it is,” he said. “I’ve played in games like that where you come off and you think we just got beat and didn’t really have a go.”
Jamie Redknapp echoed the criticism, observing Chelsea’s cautious shape and limited attacking intent. “If you’d have turned up today and not known the score you’d have thought that Chelsea were winning, the way they were playing the game with six at the back, playing cagey and trying to hit on the counter-attack if possible,” he said. Redknapp accepted Rosenior’s tactical rationale but insisted a semi-final demands greater attacking commitment. “Having two shots on target in a semi-final isn’t good enough. It’s overthinking tactics, you’ve got to have a go,” he added. He also noted how a substitute, Alejandro Garnacho, reportedly passed backwards and sideways when on the pitch, underlining Redknapp’s point about a lack of urgency.
Rosenior defended his decisions after the match, saying hindsight from pundits is easy. “I’ve been a pundit, it’s easy in hindsight. If I go and attack the game and press really high, people will ask what I am doing,” he said. He explained his cautious approach as a calculated choice that balanced risks: pressing high could have left the team exposed, he argued. Rosenior pointed to his substitutions, bringing on Cole Palmer and Estevao around the hour mark to open the game, and said there were moments in and around the box afterwards.
He acknowledged the disappointment of falling short but praised his players’ effort, noting the late goal came when Chelsea were “throwing the kitchen sink at the game.” “We didn’t achieve what we wanted to, but it’s not about game plans, it’s about results,” Rosenior added. He accepted the scrutiny that comes with losing while reminding that winning would have brought praise: “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.”
Arsenal progress to the final, while Chelsea face questions over whether their conservative approach in a cup semi-final was the right call.