Liam Rosenior has accused Arsenal of disrespect after a member of Mikel Arteta's backroom staff entered Chelsea's half during the warm-up ahead of Tuesday night's Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg
Ryan Taylor
10:16, 06 Feb 2026
Liam Rosenior
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Liam Rosenior has labelled Arsenal "disrespectful" for enriching Chelsea's half during the warm-up(Image: Javier Garcia/Shutterstock)
There is definitely something to admire about the way Liam Rosenior fights to protect his club. However, his latest comments - accusing Arsenal of disrespect - in light of Tuesday night's pre-match incident during the warm-up at the Emirates Stadium were misguided and risk staining his reputation.
Upon signing his six-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge, viral clips of Rosenior locked in heated touchline exchanges with former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca (during his time at Leicester) and PSG's coaching staff during his previous roles with Hull and Strasbourg respectively, surfaced online.
Therefore, any suggestion the 41-year-old tactician was acting out of character when he exploded at a member of Mikel Arteta's backroom staff as they encroached Chelsea's half during the warm-up are merely untrue.
Rosenior is certainly not short of fire or ferocity but despite his drastic rise to prominence, a large percentage of people still remain blissfully unaware of his credible playing history, let alone his managerial exploits and the characteristics that have shaped his fledgling coaching career.
They can be forgiven for wondering if Rosenior - still relatively new to the Chelsea hot-seat - was playing up for the cameras to display authority and win over fans whilst also enhancing his own personal image.
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His conduct and temperament at Strasbourg alone suggests it's unlikely that was the case. Instead, it's far more likely that he felt there was an element of gamesmanship in play and he's also since claimed his team's warm-up was disrupted.
The issue is, new video footage published by Sky Sports suggest his argument is somewhat flawed. In almost every match, at virtually any level, it's incredibly common for the ball to scuttle into the opposition half when a goalkeeper is practising long kicks - as appears to be the case here.
Generally, any coach assisting the goalkeeper tends to position themselves around the halfway line and close to the touchline so the goalkeeper can practise finding their range. Not every kick is perfect, therefore on some occasions, the ball will bounce into the opposition's half.
Rosenior and two members of his backroom staff just happened to be standing precisely where the Arsenal coach encroached their half and that is precisely why it irked him so badly.
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior
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Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior wasn't happy with an Arsenal staff member encroaching his half during the warm-up(Image: Getty Images)
When Rosenior claimed on Thursday that he's "never asked" his team or coaches to "encroach on the opposition’s territory" - he's certainly not alone.
While Arteta is one of the world's most innovative coaches and has persistently tapped into the fine margins of the game but the idea he'd purposely request his coaches to enter Chelsea's half during a warm-up is far-fetched and ridiculous.
Rosenior may still be relatively young in coaching circles but he's been around the block long enough and is experienced enough to understand the reality of warm-up gate and that it was much ado about nothing.
The incident has now been blown massively out of proportion and is unlikely to help Chelsea's cause when they return to the Emirates looking to earn three points in the Premier League on March 1. Don't be surprised if it drives the pre-match headlines before that game, either.
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