"When you warm up you have your half and the other team have their half, he said. In that moment I didn't think it was right where they were operating. They were affecting my lads' warm-up. So I asked them, maybe not politely, to make sure they stay in their half. I'm not here to have mind games, it's just what I think is right and respectful."
"Sky Sports cameras captured the Blues boss in an angry exchange with the home team on the Emirates Stadium pitch before kick-off, accusing them of encroaching into Chelsea's half. Teams typically take a half of the pitch each to warm up in and Rosenior unleashed a side of his character hitherto unseen during his time in charge to remonstrate with the Gunners over their lack of "etiquette.""
"Former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp would frequently stand on or near the halfway line close to where opposition teams were going through their paces and watch intently. Critics at the time accused him of attempting to intimidate the other team, but speaking at an event in January last year he clarified the reason behind the habit. "Actually I did it to understand the other team a little bit better," Klopp said "They thought I did it to intimidate them.""
Liam Rosenior confronted Arsenal players on the Emirates pitch before kick-off, claiming they encroached into Chelsea's half and disrupted his team's warm-up. Rosenior said he asked the players, perhaps not politely, to remain in their half and stressed that his actions were about respect and etiquette rather than mind games. Sky Sports cameras captured the exchange, and debate over pre-match warm-up boundaries followed. Chelsea then lost 1-0 to a stoppage-time goal by former player Kai Havertz, sending Arsenal through 4-2 on aggregate to Wembley. The incident echoes past controversies over managers' pre-match positioning.
Read at ESPN.com
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