John Terry has hit out at Arsenal for ‘celebrating too much’ after the north London side beat Chelsea in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final to book their spot for a tilt at the trophy at Wembley next month.
The former Blues captain was previously mocked by Arsenal fans for his dismayed reaction to Kai Havertz’s late winner at the Emirates on Tuesday night, which he shared to TikTok despite his daughter Summer’s embarrassed pleas that he not post the video publicly.
But Terry has not let the opportunity to try and get one up on his London derby rivals, claiming that the jubilant scenes in Islington in midweek were a touch premature for Mikel Arteta’s side.
‘I just want to talk on Arsenal’s celebrations after… let’s not forget, it’s the Carabao Cup, it’s not the Champions League final,’ Terry criticised in a TikTok video.
‘They celebrated far too much for me, I think that showed the pressure that’s on them at the moment.’
Terry appeared to take umbrage with Arsenal’s bench and staff running onto the pitch at the final whistle as their spot was confirmed, with players pressing up against the advertising hoardings to celebrate with their fans in chaotic scenes.
Arsenal rushed onto the pitch in their number to celebrate their spot in the Carabao Cup final
But former Chelsea captain John Terry deemed their excitement on Tuesday a tad premature
Arteta also leapt into the arms of his coaching staff as he was swept up in the emotional anticipation of his second final as Arsenal manager.
‘I’ve said it before, Arsenal are looking the best team by far in the Premier League so far and I think they’ve got the best squad in the Premier League so far,’ Terry added.
‘They’ve got a lot of strength in depth and I think they’ve been the best, but also, it certainly wasn’t the Champions League final that they’ve qualified to, it’s the Carabao Cup final.
‘Yes, it’s the first competition you can win, I think it’s really important, but that just showed me where the Arsenal team are at at the moment.
‘They can feel the nerves and I know every Arsenal fan out there is feeling what I’m feeling, that there’s still a chance (they could blow it).’
Arsenal have enjoyed a strong recent head-to-head record against Chelsea, with the Gunners unbeaten in their last 10 meetings with their west London rivals.
But Terry was adamant to add that the match-up wasn’t one that should have intimidated his former club.
‘I think against Arsenal, this year the two games I’ve seen, we’ve outplayed Arsenal,’ he said earlier in the social media post. ‘So going into those games, I’ve never feared Arsenal anyway, in the league or in any competition.
The hosts were pinned back by the visitors for much of the tie but sealed the win in added time
Mikel Arteta will now prepare for his second final since joining the club as manager in 2019
But Chelsea were also swept up in the emotion, with Wesley Fofana snapped in tears after the match slipped away
‘I think it’s different if we’re in the Champions League semi-final, I think you’re approach then becomes a little bit cautious.
‘But it’s the Carabao Cup, we’ve won it many times and we had nothing to fear, I don’t think, going into that.
‘I think the pressure was on Arsenal in the week and I think we made it very easy for them at home as well, so disappointed with that, I think we left it far too late.’
Manager Liam Rosenior’s tactical decisions on the night split opinions across the footballing community, with Paul Merson horrified that Chelsea had ‘gone out with a whimper’ in north London.
But there were many who supported Rosenior’s pragmatism, and pointed out that, but for the individual performances of the players, the approach might have seen the visitors put one over on their hosts from a goal down.
Rosenior was in high spirits as he looked to move on from defeat in the cup competition to attempting to get back to winning ways against rock-bottom side Wolves in Premier League action on Saturday.
After his wonky touch on Tuesday evening from the dugout went viral on social media, he joked that teenage starlet Estevao had questioned whether he had really been a professional footballer years earlier.
‘You’ve got to (laugh at yourself),’ Rosenior added. ‘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.’
