Liam Rosenior had his first big match when taking over Chelsea from Enzo Maresca. Despite the defeat, the 41-year-old coach saw that the team still had fighting spirit, something that seemed to have been lost when Maresca was sacked, accompanied by many bad stories backstage.
Rosenior gradually felt the tense and pressured atmosphere when leading Chelsea in big matches. Throughout the match, despite playing at home, instead of hearing the cheers of Chelsea fans, Rosenior heard many mockery from Arsenal fans. Gooners sang loudly sentences like: "You will be sacked tomorrow morning", repeatedly making the pressure on the English strategist felt very clearly.
In the League Cup semi-final, Rosenior did not have the strongest squad when Cole Palmer, Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Liam Delap and Malo Gusto were absent for various reasons. Facing Arsenal who fielded a very strong squad, Chelsea's defeat is understandable.
The commendable thing is that Chelsea's playing style is not too inferior to Arsenal, like the The Blues version under Maresca in the 1-1 draw against the "Gunners" 6 weeks ago, even though they had to play with 10 men.
A home defeat to a city rival is not an ideal start for any coach. However, at least that is what Rosenior can trust to be a psychological springboard for the next matches.
One of the people who made that excitement for Chelsea is Alejandro Garnacho. The Argentine striker has gone through many ups and downs since leaving Man United to join The Blues. Before the match against Arsenal, Garnacho had only scored 4 goals for Chelsea in all competitions and 1 of them in the Premier League.
The double in the match against Arsenal, plus his active play, helped Garnacho catch the eye of Rosenior. Under Maresca, he was just a backup factor and now, perhaps the Argentine young star will be considered for a starting position.
One of the reasons Chelsea recruited Rosenior is the similarity in tactics that Maresca has built, coupled with the suitability with the existing personnel. The Blues have to play up to 9 matches in January 2026, so stability and the ability to start right from a new coach is extremely important.
The ball control style of both teams is quite similar. Chelsea switched from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 3-4-3, using full-backs to create pressure in the midfield area. In their equalizing goal, Pedro Neto sped on the right wing and passed the ball long for Alejandro Garnacho. That is one of the typical examples of goals into the far corner of the goal they have scored this season.
Besides the positive highlights in the attack, Chelsea's defense left some worries. Except for the usual mistake of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, the defense is a concern ahead when conceding 3 goals. In both halves, Chelsea conceded early goals and this is the 8th consecutive match they have not been able to keep a clean sheet.
Chelsea still maintains the goal of finishing in the Top 4 of the Premier League, but with such an active defense, Rosenior will have a headache in the near future. Chelsea is inherently an unstable team and Rosenior was brought to Stamford Bridge to solve this problem.
