LONDON (AP) — Newly installed Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior rejected the notion that Arsenal was “taking the game back in time” by focusing heavily on set plays under Mikel Arteta.
“I don’t know who’s calling them ‘Set Piece FC’ — I'm definitely not,” Rosenior said Monday, two days out from the teams' first-leg meeting in the English League Cup semifinals at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal leads the Premier League by six points, also tops the Champions League after six victories from six in the league phase, and is showing few weaknesses in its bid for a first trophy since winning the FA Cup in 2020 at the end of Arteta's first season in charge.
Set pieces is an area Arteta has worked hard on mastering and Arsenal is among the most dangerous teams in England in this facet of the game, especially now Brazil center back Gabriel Magalhaes is back fit.
“Arsenal are good at everything,” Rosenior said. “They’re a good team. It’s not about taking the game back in time. You manage your 1% to be as good a team to win as many different ways as possible.”
“They’re a team who are very good without the ball,” added Rosenior, who was hired last week as a replacement for the departed Enzo Maresca. “They have a really, really clear idea in the way they want to play with the ball. And on top of that, they’re very, very well organized with good delivery on set plays. That’s what you want to be if you want to be successful.”
Rosenior's first match in charge was a 5-1 win over second-tier Charlton Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
He left out England internationals Cole Palmer and Reece James because their fitness is “being managed,” Rosenior said, and they could return against Arsenal.
The second leg will be at Arsenal on Feb. 3.
Newcastle vs. Manchester City is the other semifinal matchup. The first leg is at Newcastle on Tuesday.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta talks to Noni Madueke during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Portsmouth and Arsenal in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Chelsea's head coach Liam Rosenior walks before the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Chelsea in London, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow on Thursday convicted 19 people of involvement in the 2024 shooting rampage at a Moscow concert hall that killed 149 people and wounded over 600 in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in years.
A faction of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the March 22, 2024, massacre at the Crocus City Hall concert venue. Authorities said four gunmen, identified as citizens of Tajikistan, shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire.
All 19 defendants were handed lengthy prison terms: 15 received life sentences, one got 22 1/2 years, and three were given 19 years and 11 months each.
Those with life sentences will serve part of them in a prison and the rest in a special regime penal colony, according to the verdict.
They were also ordered to pay fines ranging from 500,000 rubles (about $6,300) to 2.7 million rubles ($34,000).
The trial began in August 2025 in a military court, as is customary for terrorism charges, and took place behind closed doors, with authorities citing security concerns. Three military court judges presided.
President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have claimed, without presenting evidence, that Ukraine had a role in the attack. Kyiv has strongly denied any involvement.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top criminal investigation agency, said the attack was “planned and carried out in the interests of the current leadership of Ukraine in order to destabilize the political situation in our country.”
It also noted the four suspected gunmen tried to flee to Ukraine. They were arrested hours after the attack and later appeared in a Moscow court with signs of being severely beaten.
Those tried alongside them included three men who sold the suspected gunmen a car, a man they rented an apartment from, and 10 others accused of terrorist ties, according to independent Russian news site Mediazona.
Men tried on the charges of involvement in a terror attack at the Crocus City Hall in March 2024, background, listen to the verdict from behind a glass cage at the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Men tried on the charges of involvement in a terror attack at the Crocus City Hall in March 2024, background, listen to the verdict from behind a glass cage at the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Men tried on the charges of involvement in a terror attack at the Crocus City Hall in March 2024, background, listen to the verdict from behind a glass cage as lawyers and journalists stand around at the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Men tried on the charges of involvement in a terror attack at the Crocus City Hall in March 2024 listen to the verdict in a glass cage at the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Men tried on the charges of involvement in a terror attack at the Crocus City Hall in March 2024 listen to the verdict in a glass cage at the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
