Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino says he respects Gary Neville’s opinion about the Blues’ performance against Liverpool in the League Cup final but believes the former Manchester United defender and the current Sky Sports television pundit’s fierce criticism was unfair.Neville was hugely disappointed in Chelsea’s approach to extra-time before labelling their side “blue billion-pound bottlejobs”.Neville just called Chelsea the blue billion pound bottlejobs 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/cQdL0h2k0Z— Jake (@JakeBalding) February 25, 2024 Pochettino acknowledged Neville’s comments after the game and admitted his team’s energy did drop in the extra-time, while a youthful Liverpool found another gear.”I didn’t hear what he said, but if you compare the ages of the two groups, I think they’re similar,” Pochettino said. “I have a good relationship with Gary. I can respect his opinion.”We made a few changes, like (Conor) Gallagher and (Ben) Chilwell in extra-time. But it’s true, we didn’t keep the energy how we finished the second half.”For sure, I feel proud. They made a big effort. We have a young team, and nothing to compare with Liverpool because they finished with young players on the pitch.”It’s not fair to talk in this way, if he said that. We’re going to keep being strong and believing in this project.”This is for Klopp! Virgil the Leader takes Liverpool to the League Cup trophy in a breathtaking showdownPochettino admits his side had one eye on a penalty shootout before Van Dijk’s late winner.”Look, of course, it was difficult. Of course, after we are frustrated. The players feel the disappointment,” he said.”We were so close to winning the game after 90 minutes. They started to lose their energy. Chillwel felt really, really tired. Gallagher, after five minutes, we needed to change.”The team felt maybe the penalties would be good for us. The effort was massive. I am happy with the effort. It’s about keeping believing in that. We didn’t get the reward we wanted,” concluded he.##NAJAVA_MECA_7899462##
