Mikel Arteta moved to defuse a narrative the media seem desperate to build by apologising to Liam Rosenior over an incident during the warm up ahead of Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup semi final second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
Tension flared before kick off when Rosenior confronted Arsenal players for encroaching on Chelsea’s half, with footage capturing him shouting, “Stay in your half. Stay in your f ***** g half. F ***** g stay there,” as he objected to their positioning.
The confrontation came before the match Arsenal went on to win 1-0 on the night, completing a 4-2 aggregate victory after Rosenior’s ‘tactical masterclass’.
Asked about the exchange afterwards, Arteta sought to play down the issue and made clear that any offence caused was unintentional.
He said, “It’s his opinion and obviously we respect everybody and if at any point one of the staff members went through that, we apologise and that’s it.”
He added that the situation was not unusual in matchday preparations, saying, “It’s very common in football, especially with the keepers because they have to keep long balls and all that, so nothing to comment.”
Rosenior does not seem to have been called upon to apologise for his comments.
Arteta also rejected the idea that the episode was part of a broader attempt to unsettle his side, responding to suggestions of mind games by saying, “I don’t know, I have no idea. But I don’t think that was (intended).”
In addition to turning up at Arsenal intent on only playing football for 30 minutes, Rosenior has been roundly mocked for his attempts at controlling a high ball that saw it spin off, into the crowd to much laughter.
“The lads have played it back to me on the video and we’ve had a laugh about it,’ Rosenior said. “Estevao said he can’t believe I was a professional footballer.
“You’ve got to (laugh at yourself). This is a great job. I love this job. I am serious in many aspects and demanding in many aspects. Life is too short. You have to enjoy life. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. At the moment, a lot of people in this country have been laughing at me.”