Rosenior says Arsenal crossed line in warm-up

• Liam Rosenior said Arsenal staff crossed into Chelsea’s warm-up space, which he called disrespectful.
• Chelsea lost 1-0 on the night, 4-2 on aggregate, with Kai Havertz scoring late on the counterattack.
• Rosenior defended both his reaction and his approach, saying outside criticism will not drive his decisions.

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior said Arsenal showed his side a lack of respect during the warm-up for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday.

Rosenior was seen shouting at Arsenal staff to stay on their half and not move into Chelsea’s area as both teams prepared at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal won 1-0 to complete a 4-2 aggregate victory.

“It wasn’t the players,” said Rosenior. “When you warm up, you have your half and the other team have their half.

“I’ve never asked my team or coaches to encroach on the opposition’s territory. In that moment, I didn’t think it was right where they were operating, they were affecting our warm-up.

“I asked them, maybe not politely, to make sure they stay in their half. I’m not here to have mind games, it’s just what I think is right and respectful. Hopefully, we respect that and other teams do too.”

He added: “There are certain etiquettes in football.

“I don’t have an issue with anyone at Arsenal Football Club. [Arsenal manager] Mikel [Arteta] is someone I’ve got so much respect for. It was just in that moment, I didn’t think that respect was shown to my team.”

Rosenior has won six of his eight games after replacing Enzo Maresca in January. His only defeats came in both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal.

Speaking ahead of the Wolves match on Saturday, Rosenior also defended Chelsea’s performance and his tactical choices in the second leg, even with the tie slipping away late.

Chelsea started with three centre-backs, then made a double attacking change on 59 minutes, with Cole Palmer and Estevao Willian coming on for Jorrel Hato and Liam Delap as Chelsea shifted back into a more familiar shape while chasing the goal that would have made it 3-3 on aggregate.

“The noise doesn’t surprise me at all. What other teams do has nothing to do with me,” added Rosenior.

“What people say outside the club makes no difference to my decision-making. In hindsight, we didn’t go through so there are always things you can do differently, but that was a very, very solid performance against a team very good at home.”