Chelsea Crash Out Of Carabao Cup As Arsenal Advance

Wednesday night at the Emirates Stadium brought the curtain down on Chelsea’s Carabao Cup journey for the 2025-26 season, as the Blues fell 0-1 to Arsenal in the second leg of their semifinal clash. Having already lost 2-3 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg, Chelsea’s slim hopes of overturning the deficit were dashed, sending Arsenal through to the final amid a swirl of criticism, heated pundit debate, and some soul-searching for Liam Rosenior’s squad.

It was a night that started with anticipation but ended in frustration for the visitors. Chelsea, needing at least a two-goal swing to advance, struggled to break through a disciplined Arsenal side. The goalless first half set the tone, and it wasn’t just the fans who felt the tension. In the Sky Sports studio, former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson was quick to dissect the action—or lack thereof—at halftime.

“If this plan continues, then he puts Cole Palmer and Estevao in, we’ll praise him. We’ll say what he’s done is incredible,” Merson observed, referencing Rosenior’s tactical approach and the potential impact of substitutions. But as the minutes ticked by without a Chelsea breakthrough, Merson’s patience wore thin. “If Chelsea don’t qualify after the first 45 minutes, the fans will be angry because those 45 minutes were wasted. They didn’t give Arsenal any meaningful resistance at all.”

Merson’s critique didn’t end with tactics. He questioned the very heart of the Chelsea squad, accusing the players of lacking urgency on such a crucial stage. “They’re playing at a slow tempo. It’s a Carabao Cup semi-final, fight to the end! It’s not a League One or League Two team coming to the Emirates to keep the score low, they have players capable of competing with Arsenal,” he said. Merson’s frustration was palpable, as he added, “They didn’t try hard. There are ways to lose. If they lose 0-3 in this game, after firing shot after shot and Kepa was brilliant in goal, (you’ll say): ‘That’s how it goes’.”

The former Gunner’s words cut deep, suggesting that Chelsea’s players would leave the pitch with regrets. “As a player, you’ll be in the dressing room (thinking): ‘We didn’t try our best’. I’ve played in games like that, you come off the pitch and think: ‘We’ve just been beaten and we didn’t try our best’,” Merson concluded.

Liam Rosenior, Chelsea’s manager, was quick to respond to the mounting criticism. Speaking the morning after the defeat, Rosenior defended his decisions and the realities of life in the dugout. “I used to be a commentator, it’s easy. It’s easy if you look at it from a past point of view. If I attack and do high pressing, then we concede two goals early, everyone will question what you are doing,” Rosenior explained. He continued, “That’s the reality of my job. If you lose a game, you’re criticised. If you win, you’re a genius. It’s usually somewhere in between.”

Rosenior’s words echoed the pressure cooker environment of top-flight football, where every decision is scrutinized and hindsight reigns supreme. His candid take was a reminder that the sidelines are a world apart from the TV studio, and that tactical gambles can be a double-edged sword.

Jamie Redknapp, another Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool player, sided with Merson’s assessment. “At the break, they were so excited, clapping, thinking: ‘This is what we want to do, take them deeper into the second half and overcome the anxiety in the stadium’. But it didn’t happen,” Redknapp said. He observed Chelsea’s late attempts to ramp up the pressure, but felt the team lost their structure and composure. “Even the way they played at the end of the game, trying to play aggressively, they lost the pattern of the game. There will be a lot of regrets in that dressing room, thinking: ‘We didn’t do enough’.”

The fallout from Chelsea’s exit has sparked wider conversations about leadership, motivation, and the fine margins that define success at the highest level. But the debate wasn’t confined to the pitch. Off the field, another footballing figure found himself in the media spotlight—Paul Merson, whose own role as a pundit was under discussion following his recent comments and his ongoing presence on Sky Sports.

In a separate but related twist, Merson took time to praise Simon Thomas, the man who stepped into Jeff Stelling’s shoes as host of Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday. Stelling, a broadcasting legend, left the show in 2023 after more than two decades at the helm, later joining talkSPORT and becoming a brand ambassador for OLBG. Thomas, who joined Sky over 20 years ago and previously hosted Blue Peter, took over the high-profile role and has now spent two and a half seasons navigating the demands of live football coverage.

Merson, reflecting on Thomas’s performance, said on the Stick to Football podcast, “It’s like going into Man City and taking [Erling] Haaland’s place and saying, ‘Right you’ve got to score 40 goals a season’. Jeff [Stelling] was the ultimate at it but people forget, God bless before his wife passed away, Simon [Thomas] was the top presenter.”

He continued, “He was on Blue Peter when he was younger and he has come in and just been himself and I like that. He gets nervous sometimes and rightly so, it’s a hard job to do what he does and then now... People forget as well now he does 3pm until 5pm, bang, reeling out scores, and then he has got to do the full-time scores and then the tables and then in-between that we are lucky enough to get an interview now from one of the players, so he doesn’t get a rest for six hours, which is some doing. What Simon does is unbelievable, to follow someone like Jeff Stelling...”

It’s a rare moment of camaraderie in a week otherwise dominated by finger-pointing and frustration. Merson’s acknowledgment of Thomas’s challenges and achievements provides a counterpoint to his sharp critique of Chelsea’s performance—a reminder that in football, as in broadcasting, stepping into big shoes is never easy, and every role comes with its own pressures and expectations.

As Arsenal look ahead to the Carabao Cup final and Chelsea return to the drawing board, the post-match analysis continues to swirl. The debate over tactics, motivation, and leadership won’t die down anytime soon, especially with pundits like Merson and Redknapp keeping the conversation lively. For Rosenior and his squad, the focus now shifts to learning from the experience and reigniting their campaign in other competitions. Meanwhile, in the world of football broadcasting, Simon Thomas’s steady hand at the Soccer Saturday helm draws admiration, proving that resilience and authenticity matter—on the pitch and off it.