POCH: DON’T NEV-ER CALL US BOTTLERS

MAURICIO POCHETTINO hit back at Gary Neville’s “unfair” criticism after the TV pundit branded Chelsea “blue billion-pound bottle jobs”.

As the Blues slumped to their sixth Wembley final defeat in a row (Moises Caicedo consoled by Ben Chilwell, above) Pochettino struggled to contain his disappointment after the Sky

Sports analyst put the boot in.

Neville (below) said: “I’m really disappointed with Chelsea in that extra-time period. You can lose any game of football but you cannot shrink, you cannot go back – particularly when Liverpool have five kids on the pitch. You have to go for their throat.”

In fact, by the end, the average age of Liverpool’s XI was 24.1 years, including three teenagers, while Chelsea’s team was 22.6 years.

Chelsea boss Poch, still to land his first trophy in English football, said: “If you compare the age of the two groups, 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.

“Of course, we made a few changes with Conor Gallagher and Chilwell in extra-time, but it is true we didn’t keep the energy of how we finished the second half.

“I don’t know how you can describe this situation but, for sure, I feel proud of the players, they made a big effort.

“We are a young team and it is nothing to compare with Liverpool just because they finished with also a few young players.

“He (Neville) knows, he knows the dynamics are completely different. It’s not fair to talk in this way. But we are going to keep strong and keep believing in this project, and see what we can do in the future.”

Pochettino, also on the losing side against Jurgen Klopp in the 2019 Champions League final with Tottenham, laid the blame for another cup final flop on his side’s woeful finishing.

He said: ”We created four, five, six big chances and we didn’t score... and that is a bit of a problem.”