What did the Chelsea manager say after another player received a red card in the defeat to Arsenal?

Pedro Neto's red card marks the 7th instance in the Premier League and the 9th across all competitions this season that a Chelsea player has been sent off, a statistic that no fan or coach of The Blues can be pleased with.

Liam Rosenior has only been in charge Chelsea for 7 matches, but his team has been reduced to 10 men twice, and those were in two consecutive games. Last weekend, Wesley Fofana was sent off against Burnley. Most recently, in the Arsenal Premier League defeat in the early hours of February 3rd, it was Pedro Neto's turn to receive two yellow cards within three minutes and be dismissed.

This is the 7th red card Chelsea have received in the Premier League this season, and the 9th across all competitions. Manager Rosenior is naturally not satisfied with this outcome. Speaking after the match, he stated:

“The last three matches have followed the same script. We played well enough, but then that same scenario repeated itself. In all three games, we had periods where we were dominant. Whether we win or lose, I never blame the players, but it's clear we know what we need to improve,” Rosenior said.

“The issue isn't with our style of play or attacking ability. We need to be more ruthless in both penalty areas. Conceding two goals from corners and then receiving another red card, that's the story of the whole season, and also the story of the last few matches,” he added.

Manager Rosenior also had to admit that Arsenal are currently the best set-piece team in the world, but was still disappointed with the second conceded goal: “The first goal conceded was excellent, truly class. Credit to Arsenal, they are brilliant – probably the best team in the world at set-pieces. If anyone thinks we didn't prepare for dead-ball situations all week or didn't talk about it, they really don't understand anything.”

“But the second goal conceded is what's truly disappointing. We have to handle that moment better. We have to be stronger, our mentality has to be better. Earlier we gave away a free-kick, then we conceded a corner while we were controlling the match, all because of a careless situation.”

“I don't want to keep coming out here and only talking about the positives, because in truth we have many positives – but we are here to win matches. And we have to fix this before we face Aston Villa,” he further stated.

When asked who needs to do better in defending set-pieces, Rosenior was frank: “I think it's a combination of several factors: marking, positions within the zonal defensive system, stance, and the goalkeeper is also involved. I'm not singling anyone out. What I do is discuss it in the dressing room and on the training pitch.”

“I think anyone watching Chelsea play can clearly see where we need to improve, alongside the many good aspects of our play. … This is a very difficult issue to pinpoint a single cause for. We are paid to try and win football matches. If anyone thinks we aren't trying to address this, that's absurd. We are trying to fix it, and sometimes you have to learn the hard way,” Rosenior affirmed.

“I thought the pain of dropping 2 points against Burnley, and then against Leeds when leading 2-0, would wake us up today against a team as excellent at set-pieces as Arsenal. But ultimately, it didn't. The most frustrating thing is that we left the pitch with no points,” Rosenior shared in disappointment.