‘Wow!’ – Jamie Carragher shocked by Mauricio Pochettino admission after Chelsea defeat

Jamie Carragher has shared his surprise at Mauricio Pochettino admitting Chelsea seemed to play for penalties in their last-gasp Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool.

The Blues were second best for much of the first half, with Jurgen Klopp’s side dictating the tempo of the match, but they had the best opportunity to take the lead when Cole Palmer was denied by Caoimhin Kelleher while they also had a goal chalked off for offside by VAR.

Both teams hit the woodwork on multiple occasions but Chelsea edged the contest in the second period and finished the 90 minutes in particularly strong fashion, somehow failing to grab a late winner after a penalty box scramble.

But just when it seemed as though Chelsea were turning the screw, they took their foot off the gas in extra-time and a young Liverpool side regained a foothold.

Chelsea’s passiveness ultimately proved to be their undoing and in the 118th minute Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk escaped his marker at a corner and headed the ball into the back of the net to spark wild scenes of celebration.

Speaking afterwards, Pochettino raised a few eyebrows when he explained his side’s extra-time struggles by saying his players ‘started to feel that maybe the penalties will be good for us’.

Obviously that approach did not work, and, indeed, invited Liverpool onto them, and Carragher seemed shocked that Pochettino was willing to admit that his players had stopped trying to win the match in extra-time – though did feel it showed in the game.

Quote-tweeting Pochettino’s comment, Carragher wrote on X: ‘Wow! Felt like that watching the extra time.’

On the result, he said: ‘Absolutely brilliant win for Liverpool, huge result, and one of the proudest moments for me as someone associated with this club when I saw all those kids from the academy.

‘And also the courage of the manager to put them on the pitch. But also the courage of those players to get on the ball and take the ball in that extra-time period with the pressure on playing in a big Cup final.’

Pochettino, meanwhile, had been asked if he had expected more from his players in extra-time when he made his admission, saying: ‘Look, of course that was difficult. Of course always some experience, some leadership inside the pitch helps but of course, after to be frustrated.

‘The players feel the disappointment because we were so close to winning the game after 90 minutes and we feel a little bit to lose our energy.

‘Some players like [Conor] Gallagher and Chilly [Ben Chilwell] start to feel really, really tired and maybe use different players to go with and help. We need to change Gallagher after five minutes and then in the start of the second 15 minutes, I think Chilwell. The team started to feel that maybe the penalties will be good for us.

‘But we cannot blame, we cannot say nothing. I think the effort was massive. I am happy with the effort. It’s about to keep believing in that. We didn’t get the reward we wanted, but now we keep moving.’

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