Football Feb 10, 2026

Arsenal didn't show respect to Chelsea during warm-up ahead of Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, claims Liam Rosenior

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Sports Journalist
Arsenal didn't show respect to Chelsea during warm-up ahead of Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, claims Liam Rosenior

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has accused Arsenal of showing a lack of respect during the warm-up before their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.

A furious Rosenior was captured by the Your Site cameras telling the Gunners, "That's your half - that's your ******* half. ******* stay there" before Chelsea went on to lose 4-2 on aggregate at the Emirates.

Footage from Your Site showed a member of Arsenal's coaching staff entering the Chelsea half of the pitch during the warm-up, with Rosenior admitting it "affected" his team's ability to warm up.

He said: "It wasn't the [Arsenal] players. I'm respectful, when you warm-up you have your half and the other team has theirs. 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 my lads' and staff's 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 and hopefully we respect that and other teams do too.

"There are certain etiquettes in football. I always try and be as respectful as possible. I always want to win. I've never asked my coaches [to do that].

"I don't have any issue with anyone at Arsenal. They have a fantastic manager. Mikel [Arteta] is someone I have so much respect for.

"It was just, in that moment, I didn't think that respect was shown to my team."

For his part, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta would not be drawn on the accusations, telling a press conference on Friday: "It's his opinion and we respect everybody. At any moment one of the staff members went through that, we apologise and that's it.

"It's very common in football, especially with the goalkeepers and long balls and all that, so nothing there to comment."

Kai Havertz scored in stoppage time to earn Arsenal a 1-0 victory on the night as Rosenior's cautious tactical approach was criticised.

Asked if he was surprised by the reaction, Rosenior said: "No, the noise doesn't surprise me at all. That comes with the territory of being the head coach of Chelsea. If I was surprised by that, then I wouldn't have been prepared for this role.

"What people say outside of the club, what they think about the way my teams play, makes no difference to my decision-making or what I think is the right thing for the team.

"In hindsight, we didn't go through, you can always change and improve certain things that you do. But what I do feel at the same time is that it was a very, very solid performance against a team that is very, very good at home.

"We turned the tide in the second half and the game could have easily gone our way. Disappointed not to go through, but now we'll move on and focus on Wolves."

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