- Chelsea lost 1-0 to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday
- Despite the defeat, Mauricio Pochettino insisted he has the club’s full support
- Chelsea were gutless to play for penalties. Liverpool have a cause, Mauricio Pochettino’s side are soulless – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Mauricio Pochettino has insisted he has the full support of Chelsea‘s owners despite their Carabao Cup final defeat by Liverpool.
The Blues faced off against Jurgen Klopp‘s side at Wembley on Sunday and missed several chances, before their performance dipped in extra-time and Virgil van Dijk scored the winner in the 118th minute.
Defeat felt like a huge missed opportunity for Pochettino’s side, particularly given the slew of injuries and absentees faced by Liverpool, but the Argentine pleaded for patience in his project at Stamford Bridge and claimed he retained the backing of Chelsea’s board.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Blues’ FA Cup fifth round tie against Leeds on Wednesday, Pochettino said: ‘The owners showed support to me after the final. Todd Boehly also sent me a nice message
‘After the final, during the night, I met Behdad (Eghbali- co-owner) and we were talking. We were sharing our opinions of the game and the opportunity we missed.’
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino claimed he retains the support of the club’s owners despite their 1-0 Carabao Cup final defeat by Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon
Pochettino’s comments come amid claims he blanked co-owner Todd Boehly post-match
Pochettino added: ‘Of course, we feel disappointed. Chelsea is about winning.
‘Liverpool spent four years, Klopp didn’t win a title but had the support of the club to keep going. Look, now they are getting what they deserve.
‘To get to the final was a massive achievement in this project.’
Pochettino’s comments come amid claims he blanked co-owner Boehly after the game.
The Chelsea boss was dejected as he walked up the stairs at Wembley to receive his runners-up medal.
Supporters on social media suggested that the former Spurs boss ignored the American during the presentation.
Meanwhile, Pochettino also hit back at claims that Chelsea played for penalties at Wembley.
After ending normal time strongly, the Blues seemed to sit off their depleted opponents during the extra 30 minutes which allowed the Reds to regain control of the match.
After the game, when explaining Chelsea’s dip in performance, Pochettino had said: ‘We didn’t have the energy in extra time. We started to suffer a little bit and that is normal.
Pochettino also refuted claims Chelsea played for penalties during extra time at Wembley
He pleaded for patience in his project and said it was a good achievement to reach the final
‘We cannot refresh the midfield and of course it’s true maybe we were waiting for the penalties because after all the effort it was massive.’
Speaking on Tuesday, Pochettino hinted these words had been misinterpreted as he said: ‘We never set the team to go for penalties. Come on.
‘We go to win in 90 minutes or extra-time. Before extra-time and half-time of extra-time, we said “come on, we need to go”. That’s why we put offensive players on to win the game.
‘We were not clinical enough. You always need some luck to score and win the game. If we won in 90 minutes, maybe people would talk in a different way…’
