Chelsea Confidential: Why Blues must watch out for Arsenal's new secret weapon, Liam Rosenior's trick to keep the media guessing and update on Tyrique George's future

When Chelsea and Enzo Maresca agreed to their New Year’s Day divorce, they still had to finalise what would happen with the backroom staff he brought with him from Leicester.

Willy Caballero, Danny Walker, Roberto Vitiello, Michele De Bernardin, Marcos Alvarez and Javi Molina stopped working out of loyalty to Maresca and, following talks, all six have now disappeared from the club website’s staff directory without any announcement.

Bernardo Cueva is continuing his work, however, and this is a big week for Chelsea’s Mexican set-piece coach with two clashes in four days in which his area of expertise will be tested to the extreme.

On Saturday: his old club Brentford , managed by Keith Andrews, who was initially hired as Cueva’s replacement before being promoted to head coach last summer. The Bees have launched more long throws into the opposition box than any Premier League club this season – 100 in total with three goals scored from those, including one against Chelsea.

Tonight: Arsenal , the Nicolas Jover-powered side who, unsatisfied with already being deadly from corners, have now hired a throw-in coach in Thomas Gronnemark.

It is understood Gronnemark worked with Mikel Arteta ’s team at their training ground before Christmas and is continuing to analyse their throw-ins from afar. He is not set to be at Stamford Bridge for tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg as the Dane is a globetrotter who works as a consultant with multiple clubs worldwide.

Chelsea must be wary of Arsenal's long throws in the Carabao Cup semi-final as the Gunners have hired Thomas Gronnemark, an expert in that field

Gronnemark spent five seasons at Anfield and took Liverpool's possession retention rate at throw-ins from 45.4 per cent to 68.4 within his first year

Gronnemark, 50, has worked with Liverpool , Brentford, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund , to name a few. Last week he was in Germany. This week he has been in Azerbaijan. At the start of February, he is scheduled to be in the United States.

Confidential was fortunate to meet Gronnemark a few months back. He is detailed, passionate, and a lovely chap, so hopefully he will not mind us revealing a few of his secrets here.

When contracted by a new club – such as Arsenal – he begins by holding meetings with the coaching staff to understand their system and set-up. He then watches back their throw-ins from previous matches to learn their strengths and weaknesses, and to see what he can change to help suit their style.

As he told Confidential when we spoke: ‘I can see exactly what the teams have to do to improve. I can say that when people hire me, they simply get success. You not only improve your throw-ins but also because of the numbers of those actions (40 to 60 throw-ins per game on average), you improve your general game.’

He will then perform a presentation for the group of players before getting down to the coaching on the pitch – usually two, three days in total and normally 30, 45 minutes per session. 'All my coaching is tailor-made to the playing style and formation and to their strengths and weaknesses and, of course, also to the wishes of the coaches,’ Gronnemark added.

He breaks down throw-ins into three categories – ‘long’, ‘fast’ and ‘clever’ – and covered them all when working with Arsenal. The ‘long’ and ‘fast’ arguably speak for themselves, but the ‘clever’ throws relate to how the team makes sure they retain possession under pressure from the opposition, which Gronnemark believes is criminally underrated in the game today.

‘The space creation with clever throw-ins is too low in the Premier League,’ Gronnemark told us. ‘Because I have 21 years' experience as a professional throw-in coach, I can see exactly what teams have to do to improve. I analysed several games at the start of the season.

‘In the Community Shield, Liverpool only (kept) possession from 33.3 per cent of their throw-ins under pressure. When I analysed Arsenal, 28.6 per cent. Manchester United, 25 per cent. When you saw Newcastle in the first half against Liverpool (in a 3-2 win for Arne Slot’s side in August), they had 20 per cent (retention of) possession, and the 1-0 goal was conceded after they lost their own throw-in.

Fabio Carvalho of Brentford scores against Chelsea after latching on to a long throw at the Gtech Community Stadium back in September

Declan Rice will be a threat to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup when he uses his long throws

‘This goes totally under the radar. It all comes down to a lack of knowledge around throw-ins and how to create space in many very different ways. It’s not enough just to have one or two routines in each zone, like many set-piece coaches do.’

It is worth running through Gronnemark’s CV. He was representing Denmark’s national bobsleigh team in 2004 when he decided to become football’s first throw-in specialist after noticing this area was neglected. In 2010, he set the Guinness World Record for the longest throw measured at 51.33 metres. In 2018, he missed a call from an unknown +44 phone number while on holiday with his family, only to hear Jurgen Klopp’s voice upon listening to his voicemail.

Klopp asked Gronnemark to come work with him at Liverpool and so he did, spending five seasons at Anfield. They won seven trophies in that time including the Premier League and Champions League and, as Gronnemark told us, their rate for retaining possession from throw-ins all across the pitch went from 45.4 per cent to 68.4 within his first year.

Arsenal hope they will go on to add another title to his list of achievements, and all this should concern Chelsea, given their record when trying to defend throw-ins this season.

TThey have faced 28 long throws into their box in the Premier League in 2025-26 and their xG against is 3.17 from those. By comparison, Arsenal have faced 35, and their xG against is only 0.10, and now, they have Gronnemark making them even better.

ROSENIOR WANTS TEAM NEWS KEPT UNDER WRAPS

For those who like watching the pre-match press conferences live on Chelsea’s app, you may need to tweak your schedules moving forward.

Whereas Maresca liked what we would call a MD -1 presser, meaning he would speak the day before a game, it is believed Liam Rosenior prefers speaking two days before.

Why? One reason is that it helps him avoid revealing too much, not least with team news. Rosenior even apologised to the Chelsea reporters this week for speaking to us so early, as he explained the extra day gave him time to assess who was fit and who wasn’t.

Rosenior may have a headache at right back for the visit of Arsenal tonight, however.

Liam Rosenior does not want to give too much away regarding team news in his pre-match press conferences

Reece James (right) is touch and go for tonight's Carabao Cup clash

Reece James trained on the eve of this Carabao Cup clash, though a late call is expected to be made on whether he can be used. Malo Gusto is thought to be unlikely to feature, while Moises Caicedo, who has occasionally filled in on the right-hand side of the defence, is suspended.

All will be revealed when the squad arrives at Stamford Bridge, but if all three are absent, that would leave either Josh Acheampong or Wesley Fofana to fill in at right back.

Acheampong played the full 90 versus Charlton in the FA Cup on Saturday, while Fofana’s legs were saved as he was only a late substitute in that 5-1 win at the Valley.

It has been an awkward week for Fofana. Not only did Daily Mail Sport reveal how he now has 50 points on his licence , his lawyer also disclosed his salary, mentioning how his client ‘earns more than £200,000 a week’ in a statement to the court.

CHELSEA IN THE MONEY AFTER GALLAGHER SALE

Chelsea will be due a percentage of the fee from Atletico Madrid’s sale of Conor Gallagher to Tottenham – thanks to the sell-on clause they negotiated when they sold the midfielder to Atletico for £36.4million in the summer of 2024.

The 25-year-old is now exiting in a £34.6m move to Spurs, despite strong interest from Aston Villa.

Confidential has not been told the precise percentage that Chelsea will receive.

Chelsea will get a few quid from the sale of Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid to Spurs

WHEREFORE ART THOU, ROMEO?

Romeo Lavia does exist, we promise you. He has been seen exiting Stamford Bridge after the odd game through the press room, accompanied by one of the club’s security personnel.

However, the 22-year-old’s latest injury remains a mystery amid a lack of updates. It is now two months since we were told he would be missing for a minimum of a month.

When Lavia is available, he can look like a world-class midfielder. However, his inability to maintain fitness can only be frustrating for both him and his club, despite the support they have shown him throughout his troubles. By my calculations, tonight will be Chelsea’s 146th game since they signed Lavia in August 2023, and he has only appeared in 30 of those.

Manchester United asked on Lavia’s availability last summer when Chelsea were signing Alejandro Garnacho. We are told that was via Jason Wilcox, United’s director of football, who previously worked at Manchester City and Southampton, Lavia’s last two clubs before Chelsea.

Wilcox is under pressure at United, and whether he would be willing to return for the Belgian this summer remains to be seen. Signing a player with Lavia's injury history would represent a risk at a time when his decisions are already under serious scrutiny.

The lesser-spotted Romeo Lavia has only featured in 30 games for Chelsea since joining the club in August 2023

SAY BYE TO TY?

Saturday was the biggest sign yet for supporters that Tyrique George will be allowed to leave this month, with the academy graduate not making the squad for an FA Cup trip to Championship Charlton and a Brighton loanee in Facundo Buonanotte starting in his place instead.

George trained with the first team in the build-up to tonight’s Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal, but it would be a surprise if the 19-year-old is still at Chelsea beyond January.

He has no shortage of interest from England and Europe, and is assessing his own options.

Tyrique George looks like he will be allowed to leave Chelsea this month

WATERGATE SCANDAL

Chelsea insiders claim they do not know who threw the water bottle towards Aston Villa’s dugout, despite the FA charging them for that incident last week.

It was at full-time when the bottle was thrown after Villa’s 2-1 comeback win at Stamford Bridge and, at the time, those in the press box were left debating whether it came from someone seated in the Chelsea technical area or one of the supporters sat in the VIP area behind the bench.

The FA’s statement released with their charge suggests they are confident it came from the former, though English football’s governing body are also not revealing the identity of the thrower.

‘It is alleged that the club failed to ensure its players and/or other relevant personnel around the technical area did not behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or abusive way,’ the FA statement read last week.

Ollie Watkins' late goal led to unsavoury scenes at the final whistle at Stamford Bridge in December when Villa beat Chelsea 2-1

GOOD GUY, ROB

Robert Sanchez showed his compassionate side when he went to console a young fan struck by a ball during the warm-up at Charlton. Sanchez gifted him a pair of gloves and took a picture with the supporter.

It will be interesting to see whether Sanchez or Filip Jorgensen starts tonight versus Arsenal. Jorgensen got the nod in every other round of the Carabao Cup this season, but that was under Maresca, not Rosenior.