Chelsea was powerless in both semi-finals when losing both at home and away. The moment Kai Havertz - an old player who scored the only goal in the second leg, then pointed to the Arsenal logo on his chest made many Chelsea fans feel very bitter.
In the torrential rain in London, after the final whistle sounded, many Chelsea fans stayed to share their sadness with Liam Rosenior and the players. They played their best but could not reverse the situation against their city rivals. Arsenal is considered the strongest team in Europe at this time and Chelsea is not too surprising.
Losing 2-3 in the first leg, Liam Rosenior understood that he needed to win at all costs at Emirates to hope to get a ticket to the final. Names considered unique such as Cole Palmer or Estevao had time to watch the game on the field from the technical area, then were brought onto the field, but in the end, none of them could change the situation.
When there is no ball, Chelsea arranges a defensive line with 5 players. Many experts commenting on television in England have commented that this is the playing style of the underdog team. Before the second leg semi-final, Chelsea won 6/7 matches under Rosenior, but the only defeat was against Arsenal in the first leg semi-final. Chelsea, although in good form, to be able to play fairly with Arsenal is something Rosenior does not dare to do at this time.
Thus, Rosenior has suffered his 2nd defeat since leading Chelsea, the remaining 6 matches are a perfect record. Therefore, assessing Rosenior's ability just because of the League Cup semi-finals is not satisfactory.
Remember the first defeat against Arsenal, that was when Rosenior had just arrived at Chelsea 4 days ago to replace Enzo Maresca. If the first-leg defeat had a heavier score, not 2-3, perhaps Chelsea would not have tried so hard in the second leg. In the most recent away match to Emirates, Chelsea did not have the services of Reece James and Pedro Neto. Palmer and Estevao also only played 30 minutes of the second half. Therefore, it is difficult to blame Rosenior for not being able to field a better squad.
Chelsea fans have the right to be satisfied because after all, they also play evenly, causing a lot of discomfort for Arsenal. The most regrettable thing is that this is a city Derby, so more or less shame for the "Gunners" fans is what The Blues fans have to endure. Looking broader, Chelsea currently has a large number of players but is not elite. If it weren't for regular starters like Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Moises Caicedo,... it would be very difficult for Rosenior to have quality names to replace them. Meanwhile, Arsenal has a good squad in both the main and reserve squads.
In the recent second leg semi-final, the average age of the players playing for Chelsea was 23.9. Meanwhile, this number for Arsenal is 26. This means that The Blues still have time to develop further, from which they can aim for Arsenal's level in the next few years, if the Rosenior path is correct.
One of the positive things Rosenior can see is that since key players such as Palmer, Pedro or Estevao came on, Chelsea's playing style is no longer too inferior to Arsenal. Next month, when the schedule starts to be extended, Rosenior will have the opportunity to refine the squad and train the fitness of key players. They are on a winning streak in the Premier League and at this time that is the most important thing to keep, not to let the recent League Cup defeat affect them.
Everyone is waiting for Chelsea to rematch with Arsenal in the second leg of the Premier League on March 1. That may be the time for the Blues to truly reach maturity to some extent with Rosenior. They may lose in the League Cup, but if they hinder Arsenal on the Premier League championship journey, it will also be very much for The Blues fans to celebrate.
