Liam Rosenior was asked about Chelsea’s defensive tactics when they face Arsenal earlier this month, and whether he would be repeating it.
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Liam Rosenior has just taken his press conference ahead of the game against Arsenal this Sunday, where the Chelsea boss was asked whether he would repeat the cautious setup he used against the Gunners in the EFL Cup earlier this month, despite the criticism from the media:
“You are always disappointed to lose out to one of your London rivals in a semi-final of a Cup competition,” the Chelsea manager said.
“I think there were availability issues. Not an excuse. In fact, in both games, the first leg I was here for four games. We have to look at it with the right context. There was a really good structure of ours without the ball.
“With the ball, maybe we could have been more front-footed. In terms of going out to win the game, there was a clear idea that the players carried out very well. We did not get the result that we wanted and we want that to change on Sunday.”
Chelsea could repeat cautious start against hungry Arsenal
Marc Cucurella looks sad.
Marc Cucurella looks sad. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
This is going to be a different game. While it’s not a knockout game, Both sides desperately need three points, so it may as well be. A draw isn’t worth much for either side, and could be hugely damaging for morale as much as anything else.
However, from Chelsea’s point of view we can see the benefits of a similar strategy. Keep it tight against a really strong Arsenal side, let the stress in the stadium build and force them into careless play, then try to nick it late on. The fans might not love it, but Rosenior doesn’t seem like the type to bow to that pressure.
In other news…
Rosenior also defended his record in the league, pointed out he’s lifted the team from 8th to 5th in his two months in charge.
Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here:
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