Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior justified his overtly defensive approach against Arsenal in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final defeat by pointing to the late absence of two key players and generally dismissing the very concept of hindsight punditry.
As Rosenior subsequently admitted, the Blues deliberately sat back to absorb pressure for the first hour before turning the tie into a 30-minute blitz. Chelsea duly withstood the decided lack of onslaught from their hosts but were unable to find the breakthrough, forcing Kepa Arrizabalaga into just a pair of comfortable saves.
