Highlights
- Mauricio Pochettino disagrees with Gary Neville’s harsh comments about Chelsea following their Carabao Cup final loss.
- The Argentine is proud of his team, despite the defeat to a young Liverpool side.
- He hopes the result will prove to be a learning curve for Chelsea and they’ll come out of this stronger than they were going in.
Mauricio Pochettino has hit back at Gary Neville after the former Manchester United man called Chelsea ‘blue billion-pound bottle jobs’ after their Carabao Cup final loss on Sunday. The Blues wasted several glorious opportunities to take the lead against Jurgen Klopp’s side, and it came back to haunt them as Virgil van Dijk bagged a winner deep into extra time.
Chelsea faced a Reds side that was ravaged by injuries and ended the contest with several youth team members on the pitch. It was a great opportunity for the club to get some silverware under their belt, but they failed to capitalise on the situation, and it resulted in Neville blasting them as the game wrapped up.
“Klopp’s kids against the blue billion-pound bottle jobs.”
It was a pretty ruthless line from Neville on commentary, but one that quickly went viral on social media, with many fans lapping it up. Unfortunately, Pochettino isn’t happy with what he said and revealed as much after the game.
He’s proud of his team
When asked about Neville’s comments after the game, Pochettino revealed that he wasn’t happy with them, and found them extremely harsh. He also admitted that he was proud of his team, despite the loss, and stressed the fact that while Liverpool’s side was made up of youngsters, so was his.
“I think it’s not fair to talk in this way if he said that. But I think we are going to keep strong and keep believing in this project and see what we can do in the future.
“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. I don’t know how you can describe this situation. But for sure 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. I think it’s impossible [to compare the two sides]. [Neville] knows, he knows the dynamics are completely different. We were playing today Liverpool and Chelsea.”
Pochettino sees the loss as a learning curve
He’s hoping Chelsea learn a valuable lesson from the result
Losing to such an injury-ravaged Liverpool side, considering the amount of quality chances that they had, has to be a painful moment for this young Chelsea squad. It’s a moment that will see them ridiculed online for quite some time too, but Pochettino is optimistic that it will benefit them in the future.
“They need to feel the pain. They need to feel the competition. 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. They need to realise we need to work more, we need to do better things, we need to improve.
“To compete at this level against a team that is in the last five, six, seven years is competing for big things, it is about to arrive here first and then feel what it means to play for a big trophy. I remember after three or four years Liverpool lose the Champions League [Final], they lose the Europa League [Final], and they believe in the project.
“They were in the next seasons stronger until they got what they wanted. That is a good example if we want to challenge a team like Liverpool. It is not to be frustrated today because we didn’t win the trophy. It is about to take the example that we need to keep believing.”
Only time will tell whether that will prove to be the case for Pochettino and his side. Considering how tense things seem to be between the manager and Chelsea owner Todd Boehly right now, though, his future at the club might be up in the air. This season hasn’t really been all that successful for the Blues, and they’ve fallen way short of expectations considering how much has been spent on the team.
There’s a chance that this loss to Liverpool will prove to be the lesson that the young team needs right now and benefit them in the long run, or they may struggle to bounce back and things could just spiral as the season wraps up in the next few months. Honestly, with how tumultuous things have been at Stamford Bridge over the last few years, who knows?
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