‘Punchless’ – Chelsea told they’ll regret Arsenal defeat for rest of their careers as ‘second gear’ Liam Rosenior tactics slammed

For most footballers and managers, the opportunities to win silverware are few and far between.

It’s why talkSPORT’s Jamie O’Hara and Dean Saunders couldn’t quite wrap their heads around Chelsea’s lackadaisical approach to attacking the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie against Arsenal.

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The onus was on the Blues to make something happen on Tuesday evening at the Emirates Stadium given they were down 3-2 on aggregate.

However, Liam Rosenior‘s side displayed a serious lack of attacking guile and invention as a late Kai Havertz dagger sealed a 1-0 victory on the night for the Gunners.

Chelsea’s frustration in the final third was no more evident in the dying stages of the contest, as they knocked the ball from side-to-side but could not probe their way around a resolute Arsenal defence.

Aimless crosses were swung in, only to be cleared to safety by the foreheads of the men in red while some Blues players dribbled the ball into a dead end, forcing a backwards pass.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s Sports Bar, O’Hara bemoaned the risk-averse tactics from Rosenior, especially in the second half.

Jamie O’Hara and Dean Saunders rip into ‘punchless’ Chelsea display

“First half, you stay in the tie, I get that, you don’t want to lose it in the first 20 minutes,” O’Hara said.

“But now, you’ve got to throw everything at them, you’ve got to try and win the game.”

O’Hara was also perplexed at the lack of ‘any real invention to make something happen’.

Saunders, who led the likes of Wrexham and Wolves during his managerial career, acknowledged the ‘dilemma’ Rosenior faced in terms of choosing when to throw the kitchen sink at Arsenal, especially since Chelsea started the match with a back five.

“Half-time, Liam Rosenior would be sitting there thinking, ‘Do I bring [Cole] Palmer and Estevao on and risk them not running back and us going another goal down, at what point do I go for it,'” Saunders said.

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“But they were a bit punchless and Arsenal defended well.”

Even Arsenal legend Paul Merson was left scratching his head at Chelsea’s lack of attacking verve in the second half.

“They (Chelsea) played in second gear,” Merson said on Sky Sports.

“This is the semi-final of a cup, you go out in a blaze. This is not like a League One or League Two team coming to the Emirates to keep the score down.

“They’ve got the players to mix it with Arsenal, in my opinion. And they didn’t have a go.

“If they lost this game 3-0 and they had shot after shot and Kepa was brilliant in goal and they broke like that three times, then you’d go, ‘That’s the way it is.'”

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Wesley Fofana’s tears highlight Chelsea’s ‘regrets’

Even though Chelsea won the Conference League and the Club World Cup last season, the agony of a missed opportunity to add another trophy could not be hid.

It was no more evident than on the face of Blues centre-back Wesley Fofana, as cameras captured the Frenchman in tears at full-time.

Merson and Jamie Redknapp predicted Fofana might not have been alone in his devastation behind closed doors given the amount of ‘regrets’ they’d have following the drab display.

“They’ll forever be thinking about that in their football careers,” Merson said.

Redknapp added: “In semi-finals you’ve got to throw caution to the wind, get yourself into the box.

“You’ve got to be thinking no regrets after this game and I think there will be a lot of regrets in that dressing room.”

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Although it was a lack of spark in the final third that hamstrung Chelsea on Tuesday, the likes of Palmer and Estevao have already proven their attacking quality.

After all, Palmer has a total of 48 goals and 31 assists for the Blues since he joined from Manchester City while 18-year-old sensation Estevao has dazzled the Stamford Bridge faithful with his wizardry on the ball.

Why blunt attack isn’t what Chelsea must fix in the summer

Instead, Chelsea pundit Matisse Armani believed it is at the back where the Blues must invest if they are to return to the summit of the Premier League.

“I think what’s missing is something he (Rosenior) can’t get, which is a world class, elite level centre-back, experienced at the highest level who’s been there and done it,” Armani said on Inside Chelsea before the second leg.

“An A-side centre-back to guide all of these B-side centre-backs.”

Armani added: “[Trevoh] Chalobah is not an A-side centre-back. I don’t think he’s good enough to be Chelsea’s best centre-back.

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“Chelsea should have a centre-back that is world class. You need at least one.

“You go through any title-winning team, Liverpool and Van Dijk. You go through Arsenal with Gabriel, they win this season. You go through Manchester City, when Ruben Dias was player of the year. Chelsea, you go back with John Terry. That is what Chelsea lack.

“If you ask me what we need and what we want, and what these young players need and want, you talk about development, you want to learn from someone in training. You’d rather learn off an elite, world class centre-back. They would all develop a lot faster.”