Mauricio Pochettino's Prolonged Wait For First English Title Continues As Chelsea Lose EFL Cup Final

Mauricio Pochettino has once again fallen marginally short of winning his first trophy as the manager of an English club. On Sunday, Pochettino saw his team Chelsea endure a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hand of Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.

The Argentine has been at the helm of three Premier League clubs so far during his career. Before joining Chelsea in the summer of last year, Pochettino managed Southampton from January 2013 to June 2014 and served the role of the head coach at Tottenham Hotspur for five seasons till 2019. Under his guidance, these teams have played 388 matches altogether in English club football but could not claim a single title.

It turned out to be a battle of defence at Wembley Stadium as both teams failed to open the scoring during the 90-minute play in the nervy summit clash. It seemed the match would go into the tie-breaker but Virgil Van Dijk changed the course of the game with a last-gasp goal.

Liverpool got a corner in the dying phase of the extra time. Konstantinos Tsimikas sent an aerial delivery into the Chelsea box, with Van Dijk slotting it home from the bottom corner of the far post with a perfect header. On the back of the goal, Liverpool took home their record-extending 10th League Cup trophy.

The triumph also led Jurgen Klopp to secure his eighth title as the manager of the Reds. It might have been the last triumph at Wembley for Klopp, who is set to leave Liverpool at the end of the season.

After the match was over, Manchester United legend Gary Neville slammed Chelsea for their poor performance, underlining the fact that Liverpool fielded a young, inexperienced squad in the final. “In extra time it has been Klopp’s kids against the blue billion-pound bottle jobs. Liverpool have been sensational. For Chelsea, I have no sympathy for them whatsoever. Mauricio Pochettino’s players have shrunk,” Neville told Sky Sports.

Pochettino hit back at those remarks during the post-match conversation. He said, “I didn’t hear what he said, but if you compare the ages of the two groups, I think it is similar. I have a good relationship with Gary and I don’t know if that’s how I can take this opinion. But I respect his opinion, ” as quoted by Mirror.

Chelsea have also failed to match the expectations in the Premier League this season. The Blues are currently reeling at the eleventh place in the standings, having notched only 10 victories in 25 matches.