Mauricio Pochettino conceded that he is running out of time to win trophies and hit back at Gary Neville’s “Blue billion-pound bottle jobs” jibe after Chelsea failed to overcome a young Liverpool side in the Carabao Cup final.
Pochettino, who urged his players to feel the pain of losing 1-0 at Wembley, was reluctant to criticise his side’s passive display in extra-time. Chelsea, who have spent around £1bn in the past two years, were on top at the end of normal time and looked likely to win after Liverpool, who have a major injury crisis, brought on three inexperienced teenagers.
Yet Chelsea’s inability to seize the initiative ended their hopes of collecting the first trophy under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. Liverpool were able to regain control and Virgil van Dijk’s late winner prompted Neville, who was commentating on the game for Sky Sports, to accuse Pochettino’s expensively-assembled side of being bottlers.
“I didn’t hear what he said, but if you compare the age of the two groups, I think it is similar,” Pochettino said. “I have a good relationship with Gary and I don’t know if that’s how I can take this opinion. But I respect his opinion. We made a few changes with [Conor] Gallagher and [Ben] Chilwell in extra time.
“But it is true we didn’t keep the energy of how we finished the second half. I don’t know how you can describe this situation. But I feel proud. I feel proud of the players, I think they made a big effort.
“We are a young team and it is nothing to compare with Liverpool just because they finished with also a few young players. He knows the dynamics are completely different. I think it’s not fair to talk in this way, if he said that.”
Chelsea’s head coach needs to lift his side, who lie 11th in the Premier League, before they host Leeds in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday. “They need to feel the pain,” Pochettino said. “We play for a trophy and we didn’t get it. What can you tell me to feel better? Nothing. They need to feel the pain like us.”
Pochettino won trophies while he was in charge of Paris Saint-Germain but he is yet to lift silverware in England. “My emotions, it is the same as the players,” the Argentinian said. “I am so disappointed, it is so painful. I am an older guy that has less time to win titles, they are younger than me and for sure they have time. But if we want to win we have to move on.”
Pochettino felt that Chelsea’s ineffectiveness during extra time was because they were weighed down by missing several glorious chances to win inside 90 minutes.
“Experience and leadership inside the pitch helps,” he said. “But the players feel the disappointment because we were so close to winning the game in 90 minutes. We start to lose the energy.”
