Gary Neville tore into Chelsea’s ‘billion-pound bottlejobs’ after Virgil van Dijk headed home in extra-time to earn Liverpool a dramatic victory in the Carabao Cup final. The Reds defender had a similar goal disallowed in normal time but made it count at the second time of asking to break Chelsea hearts with just seconds left on the clock.
Chelsea’s players collapsed to the turf in anguish as Van Dijk wheeled away to celebrate before the Dutchman was mobbed by his Liverpool team-mates. Neville, who was on commentary duties for Sky Sports, did not hold back in his assessment of the Blues as he insisted he had ‘no sympathy’ for Mauricio Pochettino and his expensive squad of players.
“Klopp’s kids against the blue billion-pound bottlejobs,” said Neville. “I’ve got no sympathy for Chelsea at all. They’ve shrunk right in front of our eyes and right in front of their own fans.
“I cannot believe Chelsea in extra time. What has happened to them? From the first minute of extra time, they’ve not been playing. They haven’t turned up. He [Pochettino] must be absolutely gutted.”
Neville aimed further criticism at Chelsea’s players after the full-time whistle, questioning their collective motivation despite having a golden chance to win a trophy against a young and largely inexperienced Liverpool side. The likes of Jayden Danns, James McConnell and Bobby Clark were all introduced by Jurgen Klopp during the closing stages of the match.
“Those Chelsea players will be gutted,” added Neville. “I thought they played quite well in the first half, but they didn’t turn up [in extra time]. They didn’t perform and you can’t do that. It was at half-time and extra time that he [Pochettino] had to bring them into a huddle and rouse them.
“What was up with them? [I was] really disappointed with Chelsea in that extra-time period. You can lose finals, you can lose any game of football, but you cannot play like that. Liverpool had their kids on the pitch. You’ve got to go for their throats.”
The result marked Chelsea’s second Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool in three years, with the Blues having lost to the same opponents in the same fixture in 2022. They have endured a torrid campaign to date and will now be forced to lick their wounds and go again before facing Leeds United in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday.
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