Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has said that there’s no bad blood between him and Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp as they prepare to face each other in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Back in 2019, when Pochettino was managing Tottenham, they lost 2-0 to Liverpool in the Champions League final. That match is remembered for a controversial handball decision against Spurs’ Moussa Sissoko in the first minute, which led to Mohamed Salah scoring for Liverpool.
Just last month, Liverpool beat Chelsea 4-1 in the Premier League. Despite the cost of over £1billion to put together their team, Chelsea didn’t live up to expectations in that game.
But since then, Chelsea’s performance has improved, with good results in three away games, including a 1-1 draw with Manchester City last week.
As he hopes to win his first trophy in England, 51-year-old Pochettino says neither he nor his players are out for revenge against Liverpool.
“It’s nothing against Jurgen Klopp or Liverpool,” he said. “We love to compete with the best teams and Liverpool as a club, and Klopp with his coaching staff and the players, I think they are amazing. You love to compete with this type of organisation.
“It’s not personal against Klopp or against Liverpool to have revenge. It’s a challenge for us to say ‘we have the possibility to write history, winning a trophy’. That is our biggest motivation. That is my motivation.
Chelsea followed the loss on Merseyside with a dismal 4-2 defeat at home to Wolves that saw sections of the home support boo the team off.
Since then, the atmosphere around the club has improved significantly, with the draw at City preceded by consecutive 3-1 wins at Aston Villa and Crystal Palace that have injected renewed hope into the team’s season.
“We didn’t compete (at Anfield),” said Pochettino. “If you see the first two minutes, we didn’t match them in the capacity to compete. We created some chances and there (should have been) a penalty after five minutes with (Conor) Gallagher that may change the situation.
“But the most important thing now in this process is to challenge ourselves to be better. If you want to challenge another person, but you are not ready… You need to put your body and your mind in the best condition. If we are in the best condition, we are going to challenge.
Pochettino rejected the suggestion that victory on Sunday would prompt critics to move on from the huge transfer outlay expended by co-owner Todd Boehly since he took control in May 2022.
“It’s not easy in football,” he said. “It’s not an ordinary business. People know that it’s not only about spending money. It helps, but it’s not only.
“You need time if you want to build something. That is the process that we are involved in now. You cannot buy victories. You cannot buy trophies. Money helps, but it doesn’t give trophies.”
