What Mauricio Pochettino did to Todd Boehly following Chelsea’s embarrassing defeat against Liverpool

According to football.london, Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea have never faced a more scathing indictment of the club’s utter ineptitude in over two years. As Liverpool’s team, mostly made up of academy players or rotation alternatives, won their third domestic cup in a row over the Blues, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital co-owner Behdad Eghbali were forced to watch their magnificent vision go up in flames.

Chelsea’s team was younger on average than their opponents in a 1-0 Carabao Cup final loss, but the squad’s cost, as well as the levels of experience within it, were far superior to what Jurgen Klopp had to give. Even Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk’s lack of top-level playing time – they came off the bench in the second half – was unable to beat a Reds team that included teenagers James McConnell, Bobby Clark, and Jayden Danns.

The strategy of signing young players from all over the world in the hopes of developing them into world-beaters was well and thoroughly shown at Wembley Stadium, when Liverpool’s faith in indigenous potential paid off. Pochettino, as the man in charge, will eventually carry the can.

He will have to answer to both Boehly and Eghbali. Fans are clamoring for him to be fired (again). Whether it was poor coaching, poor recruitment, or both that led to this level and the public humiliation of wastefulness, it is irrelevant. Chelsea’s big vision has failed at a hurdle that many argue is lower than ever.

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The Carabao Cup was viewed as a method to pass the time, demonstrate progress, and provide fans with cause to be optimistic about the future. It would not have justified the club’s outrageous actions over the last 18 months, but it would have been a step in the right direction, a potential trigger to build on. The style of the defeat on Sunday has only increased the pressure on everyone concerned.

It was interesting, then, that when Pochettino had won his runners-up medal—this was the second time he had failed to win in the League Cup final, having lost to Chelsea as Tottenham manager in 2015—he was met by Boehly and Eghbali. On the way into the Wembley box, he gave the latter a fleeting glance before shaking hands.

Meanwhile, Boehly was left without so much as a glance. Pochettino hurriedly left after the formalities. Although it may just be an accident, in the context of the previous 120 minutes, it spoke volumes.

Pochettino has only ever talked highly of the ownership group and the sporting directors, which is understandable, but he has also not shied away from pointing out the gaps in his team despite such large acquisition budgets. It’s probably not worth reading too much into, but from the outside, it appears to be evidence of a disconnect throughout the club.