Neville’s line of ‘blue billion dollar bottles’ will immortalize Chelsea’s pain

Not all losses are equal – and no defeat in football is worse than a joke defeat.

“In extra time it’s Klopp’s kids against the blue billion dollar bottles,” said Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville, who succinctly and indisputably established the dominant narrative of a surreal Carabao Cup final almost as soon as Virgil van Dijk’s glancing header had landed in the far corner of Djordje Petrovic’s net.

Not only had Liverpool beaten Chelsea (again) at Wembley, they had done so in a way that confirmed the ‘mentality monsters’ culture that Jurgen Klopp has cultivated in recent years – apparently across all age groups at Kirkby and in the first team. for nine years as he mercilessly exposed the fatal flaws in the lavish Stamford Bridge investment project financed by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital over the past two years.

In the bowels of Wembley after the match, a despondent Mauricio Pochettino wearily took it upon himself to point out the nuance in the story. “I don’t hear what he said, but if you compare the ages of the two groups, I think it’s similar,” the Chelsea head coach said when asked about Neville’s line-up. “Look, I have a good relationship with Gary. I don’t know how to take his opinion, but I respect his opinion.

“We are a young team. Nothing compares to Liverpool as they also ended up with young players. Comparison is impossible and he knows that the dynamics are completely different. We played against Liverpool and Chelsea, Chelsea and Liverpool, and I don’t think it’s fair to speak like this.”

The dynamic between youth and experience at Wembley was not as clear as Neville claimed. Liverpool’s on-field XI had a higher average age than Chelsea’s at the start of the match and at the start of extra time. Van Dijk, a 32-year-old who now has eleven major trophies to his name, was the outstanding field player throughout and found the net with two headers worthy of winning a final, only one of which survived VAR review .

But the counterargument becomes difficult to sustain when the other team consists of two 19-year-olds, Bobby Clark and James McConnell, who have each played fewer than ten professional games, and another (Jayden Danns) who was making his second senior appearance. Chelsea undoubtedly lost to several kids; the main question is: did they bottle it?

Chelsea showed unmistakable signs of nerves at Wembley. Axel Disasi twice sparked Liverpool’s transition attacks by fumbling the ball under little pressure. Malo Gusto, who is usually so determined, checked straight out of the game several times. Levi Colwill kicked an attempted pass to Ben Chilwell miles down the field and was told to calm down by Enzo Fernandez, who played sloppy passes with surprising regularity.

Further back, Conor Gallagher struggled with an eerily similar cocktail of bad luck and poor composure in front of goal to which fellow Cobham graduate Mason Mount suffered against the same opponents in the same stadium in 2022.

Gallagher squandered several chances (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Nevertheless, as the clock ticked towards the end of the ninety minutes it was Chelsea who looked more likely to win, with Cole Palmer picking apart a Liverpool team whose legs seemed to have disappeared. It was at this point that Klopp made a decision that probably no other elite coach would have made: putting the fate of a major trophy in the hands of unproven youngsters, rather than retreating with experience and playing for penalties.

His choice transformed this Carabao Cup final into the spiritual sequel to Chelsea’s bizarre 4-1 win over nine-man Tottenham Hotspur in November: a situation where a convincing victory is the only acceptable outcome and anything less brings utter humiliation. Pochettino had to lead his team through twenty nervous, aimless minutes that evening before they overcame the fear of looking ridiculous – of being on the receiving end of a banter loss – and went on to win the match.

Klopp’s own ‘it’s just who we are, mate’ moment seemed to send Chelsea into a similar mental crisis at Wembley, which lasted for most of extra time, exacerbated by their dwindling energy levels. During half-time of their woefully cautious performance in the extra period, all of Chilwell, Disasi and Moises Caicedo could be seen lying on the pitch receiving attention for cramps.

Not losing has replaced winning as Chelsea’s top priority. “The team started to feel that penalties might be good for us,” Pochettino said, acknowledging the weakness blamed on him and this group of players in the bitter aftermath.

Pochettino’s face sums up the Chelsea mood (Getty Images)

Finals define the clubs, players and coaches who participate in them. Klopp has lost his share over the years, but never through passivity and through that rock-solid commitment to the idea of ​​who carries Liverpool at Wembley. Chelsea’s identity as expert finals winners began to fade in the final years of Roman Abramovich’s ownership; this is now seven cup final defeats in their last eight visits to the national stadium, and six in a row.

Doubts about Pochettino’s ability to reverse that trend will only increase. In five years at Tottenham he built impressive teams that fell just short of winning and despite his open emphasis on the power of positive energy, his calm Chelsea was undone by Klopp’s peerless command of psychological momentum.

Liverpool at full strength are much better than Chelsea, but they won the Carabao Cup final not through superior talent, but through superior mentality, coupled with an undeniable sense of identity that binds the first team and the academy together – in other words, things that Boehly and You can’t just buy Clearlake’s money.

“They have to feel the pain,” Pochettino said of his Chelsea players. The pain of this jocular loss will be difficult to shift, immortalized by Marcel’s brutal words.

(Top image: Pochettino’s changes were not as effective as Klopp’s. Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)