Chelsea narrowly fell short in the Carabao Cup final (Picture: Getty Images)
Chris Sutton felt the way Chelsea finished the Carabao Cup final was ‘gutless’ and ‘unforgiveable’ as they wilted in extra-time and were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool at Wembley.
The Blues competed well in the final over 90 minutes and missed a number of good chances to score in normal time.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side looked the strong of the two going into extra-time, but despite Liverpool having to rely on a string of academy players coming off the bench, it was Chelsea that weakened.
Jurgen Klopp’s team got stronger and eventually won the match through a Virgil van Dijk header, with the former Blues striker Sutton left unimpressed with Chelsea’s fight.
Sutton was particularly offended by Pochettino saying: ‘The players started to lose their energy. The team felt maybe penalties would be good for us.’
‘Chelsea seem to be a soulless club at this moment in time,’ Sutton said on Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast.
‘Liverpool had half a team yesterday and Liverpool didn’t take their opportunity and then when all the kids went on, if you’re a Chelsea player at that moment, that should have been the moment when you thought “what an opportunity we have”, and yet they retreated and wanted penalties. That’s pretty gutless, that’s unforgivable.’
Mauricio Pochettino’s wait for a first trophy in England goes on (Picture: Getty Images)
The former Celtic and Blackburn striker agreed with Gary Neville’s assessment that Chelsea were ‘bottle jobs’ at the end of the final.
‘Chelsea finished the second half with the momentum, with the chances,’ Sutton continued.
‘At that particular moment when Liverpool were putting kid after kid on, the Chelsea team had far greater experience. This was an opportunity for them to think “let’s got for the jugular, let’s smell blood. What a great chance to transform our season and get people talking about Chelsea again”.
‘Gary Neville used the word they “bottled” it. It’s hard to disagree with that. They should have taken the game to Liverpool and been braver in that moment in time, and they didn’t.’
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